We aim to broaden the scope of our 2024 Visionary Award-winning Sharing the Vision programme and create a replicable blueprint that other sight loss charities can roll out. This blueprint will focus on strengthening collaboration and piloting innovative ways of working, requiring minimal financial resources beyond staff time, making it both accessible and scalable across the sector.
The project will evolve and expand the principles of Sharing the Vision into a model that drives system-wide change. Since its launch, the programme has made significant progress in improving collaboration between professionals and organisations supporting people with sight loss.
Key achievements include:
Staff shadowing between Beacon and Dudley ROVIs, which has strengthened partnerships, increased referrals, and enhanced service delivery.
Establishing a new VIP community group at a council disability hub, helping us reach younger people and those on the local sight loss register.
Enhancing hospital care through partnerships with ECLOs, ensuring patients with sight loss receive appropriate support.
This funding will allow us to pilot innovative ways of working to strengthen both the sight loss and wider voluntary sector. Building on previous successes, we'll develop new collaborations with both sight-loss-specific and non-sight-loss organisations. For example, we’ve already piloted providing financial services to smaller voluntary organisations and believe there is significant potential to expand this approach.
Our goal is to deliver better outcomes for people with sight loss by creating a stronger, more collaborative system. Piloting initiatives such as shared referral pathways, joint training programmes, and data-sharing standards will ensure efficient and effective partnerships.
By developing a blueprint for systemic collaboration, this project will give sight loss charities the tools to replicate our approach in their areas, fostering long-term sustainability and capacity building. This approach prioritizes strengthening the sector as a whole, delivering meaningful and scalable change for the sight loss community nationwide.