Surrey Association for Visual Impairment. Making a visible difference in Surrey.
What's New
New - check out our equipment reviews page.
New - annual meeting workshops planned. Click on this link to join in.
Volunteers Summer Party 2010
Long Service Volunteers celebrate their awards
left to right: Russell, Brenda, Alan Howell (Chairman of SAVI), Dennis Saunders (Volunteer Co-ordinator), Pat, Sylvia.
Over seventy volunteers recently attended a Summer Party held in their honour by SAVI to promote National Volunteer Week. Alan Howell, Chairman, thanked everyone for all their hard work and dedication throughout the year in supporting vision impaired children and adults throughout Surrey. Four volunteers were presented with Long Service awards.
Val, a keen volunteer who is also herself vision impaired, gave her account of the celebrations: "Many thanks for today. It was all very nice, the speeches were appreciated, the food was excellent and the company good".
"Being a volunteer is not only good for SAVI but for service users as well. I was fortunate when I started losing my sight to be introduced to SAVI and since then I have had the opportunity to learn Braille and Moon, together with a typing refresher course and microwave cooking, all for free. It is for these reasons that I am happy to do as much volunteer work as I am able to show my appreciation for all SAVI’s help".
Dennis Saunders, Volunteer Co-ordinator was delighted with the success of the day. "We are extremely grateful to all our invaluable volunteers for their commitment and support of SAVI, without their time and varied talents SAVI would be unable to offer the variety of services that we can provide. We appreciate Tyrrells Wood Golf Club for so kindly allowing us to celebrate at such a lovely location".
To find out how to volunteer for SAVI please contact Dennis Saunders –Volunteer Co-ordinator 01372-377701 ext 239 or email dsaunders@sa-vi.org.uk
Running for Savi
SAVI was fortunate enough to have 5 people running in Marathons for us this year!
The Brighton Marathon took place on Sunday 18th April and we had four runners pounding the 26 miles around the sea-side town. Larraine Reed, who is deafblind herself with SAVI supporter David Johnston as her guide; and from Diamond Logistics we had Kate Lester and John Messenbird. Happily they all completed the race and lived to tell the tale!
Mark Foulsham, whose father is a client of SAVI, ran in the London Marathon the following Sunday - 25th April. Mark also completed in a fantastic time of under 4 hours!
SAVI is so very grateful to all these runners for their fantastic efforts, not only on the day but their training and not forgetting the fabulous sponsorship money raised - so far over £3,500 and still more money to come in!
If you would like to sponsor any of our runners please look them up on www.virginmoneygiving.com
Take a look at Larraine's blog here and Mark's blog here.
Mayor of Spelthorne opens newly refurbished Resource Centre
On Wednesday 14th April The Worshipful the Mayor of Spelthorne, Cllr Caroline Spencer, visited Surrey Association for Visual Impairment (SAVI) to officially open the newly refurbished Resource Centre.
SAVI's Resource Centre is acknowledged to be one of the most comprehensively equipped in Britain. SAVI’s Resource Centre staff are vastly experienced and able to offer expert guidance and a truly personal service, offering advice on everything from talking watches to magnifiers. Visits need to be booked in advance as it can take an hour or more to assess a client’s individual needs and which pieces of equipment will be particularly beneficial. SAVI stock a wide range of equipment to help visually impaired people cope with everyday tasks, a selection of which is also available from the on-line shop.
The makeover has been kindly sponsored by Akzonobel ICI Paints. The paint was specially selected with advice from Trevor Steele and Sheridan Barclay from the Akzonobel Colour Studio on the best combination of colours to suit the special needs of visually impaired people.
During her visit Cllr Spencer also found out about the specialist services SAVI offers to visually impaired children and adults in order to help them live more independently. She said: "I really enjoyed my visit & applaud the invaluable work carried out by the team at and associated with SAVI."
Brain teasers and pizza help raise £1,000 for SAVI
On Wednesday 24th March, locally based charity, Surrey Association for Visual Impairment (SAVI), held its annual Quiz Night at Pizza Express in Reigate. Over 60 people enjoyed the quiz which raised over a £1000 pounds for the charity. The quiz masters from Horley Lions Club ensured that fun and laughter along with brain teasing questions were very much the order of the evening.
Head of Fundraising at the Charity, Lisa Holder said, "I am delighted that for the second year we have been able to hold this popular event thanks to the generosity of Pizza Express who do so much for local charities".
Council staff give SAVI the changing rooms treatment
Employees from Surrey County Council (SCC) swapped pens for paintbrushes last week in order to bring a dash of colour to the training room of the Surrey Association for Visual Impairment (SAVI).
SAVI’s training room in Fetcham plays a vital role in helping healthcare professionals get up to speed with the latest developments on increasing awareness about the needs of people throughout the county who are blind or visually impaired.
Staff from SCC’s mid-Surrey area office chose to give up their valuable time to create a more professional and welcoming environment for people attending SAVI training courses.
Senior Service Support Assistant for Services and Families, Angie Edwards, said, "We are always keen to show our support for Surrey-based organisations and we felt that SAVI could benefit from our painting and decorating skills. It’s fantastic to know that our efforts will eventually contribute to improving the lives of visually impaired people."
SAVI Chief Executive, Lance Clarke, added, "We can’t thank the SCC team enough for all their hard work in helping us create the right professional environment in which healthcare professionals can learn and benefit from the training we offer."
"The timing of this make-over is just right as we have just launched our new IT training programme to enable visually impaired adults to make the most of computers and other technology."
The makeover has been kindly sponsored by Akzonobel ICI Paints. The paint was specially selected with advice from Trevor Steele and Sheridan Barclay from the Akzonobel Colour Studio on the best combination of colours to suit the special needs of visually impaired people.
SAVI Mistletoe Ball success
On Saturday the 12th December SAVI held its inaugural Mistletoe Ball at Tyrrells Wood Golf Club near Leatherhead. Over 100 guests attended the event enjoying an evening of wining, dining and dancing to the sounds of the Revelations band.
The evening’s entertainment also included a prize raffle and a silent auction. Among the highlights of the auction were a signed Chelsea FC football which raised £175 and a case of Kaiserbach cutlery which made £150.
The Mistletoe Ball was generously sponsored by Exxon Mobil plc whilst donations were also received from Barclays plc and UK Tickets. All told, £4,200 was raised for the charity.
SAVI's chief executive, Lance Clarke, said, "We were absolutely thrilled with the Ball and are extremely grateful to everyone who supported it. Our aim is make it an annual event in Surrey’s social calendar."
SAVI annual meeting
The Surrey Association for Visual Impairment held its annual meeting for subscribing members on 13th October 2009 in the Leatherhead Leisure Centre.
Over one hundred members enjoyed a varied day of presentations and workshops, as well as being able to view displays of crafts and equipment. The president of SAVI, Mrs Sarah Goad, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey chaired the meeting. Our keynote speaker, Stephen Remington the CEO of Action for Blind People outlined their partnership with RNIB. This was obviously of great interest to members who asked Mr Remington lots of questions.
We also enjoyed a talk from Mr Peter Clifford of the South Woking Team Ministry who spoke about the work of his Woking based mission in Morocco, helping to support blind and partially sighted adults and children. SAVI members were enthralled when he explained that there were no services for the blind at all in the country and outlined what the Mission had achieved. Mrs Val Clarke said, "It is so good to learn about the fine work that a Surrey based charity does for people in Morocco. We get such great services here in Surrey and it kind of puts things into perspective. We are so lucky."
Lance Clarke said, "We are working hard to raise our profile to even more people in Surrey and it’s great to hear such warm praise from those who receive our services. But we do know that there are many more people in Surrey to whom we could give advice and service who need to know more about us."
Touching the past - telling stories of our heritage through the language of our senses
SAVI was recently was involved in the groundbreaking Surrey Heritage Tactile Book Competition in which museums, galleries and heritage organisations took up the challenge to turn part of their collection into a tactile book.
For a visually impaired child, being able to feel, hear or even smell their way through a story can heighten the experience and understanding.
Where was the cats’ tea party? Who was the mushroom man? And how exactly do you get rid of a witch? These are just some of Surrey’s true stories recreated as sensory books for visually impaired children this summer.
The winners were announced in a special awards ceremony attended by Steven Dodd the Woking Mayor’s Consort and Peter Milton, Head of Cultural Services, Surrey County Council.
The first prize was £200 from Surrey Museums Consultative Committee (SMCC) who co-ordinated and funded the project in association with Surrey Heritage. The results were:
1st prize – Brooklands Museum for ‘Aircraft Structures’
2nd prize – Guildford Museum for ‘Princess Eleanor’s Special Day’
3rd prize – Surrey Heritage for ‘The Witch’s Bottle’
The books will tour a number of Waterstones booksellers and libraries around the county before returning to their own heritage organisation in the new year.
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The Difference Made Visible
Sight Loss
Learn about the most common eye conditions that can cause visual impairment.
Macular Disease
Cataract
Diabetic Retinopathy
Glaucoma
