Building Visionary’s Future Together
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One of the things we value most about Visionary is how willing our members are to share their ideas, experiences and challenges.
That openness helps us understand what is happening across the sector and ensures that Visionary remains relevant, practical and focused on what matters most.
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who completed our recent member survey, contributed through country and regional meetings, peer support forums, conference discussions and the many conversations we have had throughout the year. Your insight has played a vital role in shaping Visionary’s new strategy.
The recent surveys have given us a clear picture of both the pressures facing local sight loss organisations and the most important needs of blind and partially sighted people.
Findings of survey
You told us that the five biggest barriers facing your organisations are:
- Income generation
- Rising expenditure
- Organisational capacity
- Financial sustainability
- Increasing demand
When asked about the biggest needs of blind and partially sighted people, you identified:
- Access to services, including rehabilitation and waiting times
- Isolation
- Employment
- Mental health
- Mobility and transport
These findings, together with feedback gathered through our wider engagement with members, have directly shaped our new strategy.
Visionary’s ambition is to develop
‘A strong, sustainable and influential sight loss sector improving outcomes for blind and partially sighted people’.
New strategy
Our work over the coming years will focus on the issues you told us matter most. This includes:
- Strengthening the sustainability and resilience of local sight loss organisations.
- Working with you to help level up access to rehabilitation, mental health support and social participation, reducing isolation and helping to ensure blind and partially sighted people receive the support they need wherever they live.
- Working with you to increase employment opportunities and economic participation for blind and partially sighted people.
- Continuing to bring organisations together to share knowledge, build partnerships and strengthen the collective voice of the sector.
We have started to use our new strategy, alongside the evidence gathered through the survey and our wider work with members, to strengthen funding applications and conversations with trusts, foundations and corporate partners to ensure that Visionary continues to support you for many years to come. Funders want to see clear evidence of need and confidence that their investment will make a meaningful difference. Thanks to the information and insight you have shared, we can demonstrate both on a UK wide scale.
Our aim is to secure the investment needed to develop new programmes; strengthen the existing support we provide to you and continue to build a resilient, connected and influential sight loss sector.
The Visionary strategy reflects the collective experience, expertise and ambition of our membership. Thank you once again for helping to shape the future of Visionary. We will keep you updated as the strategy rolls out and becomes operational. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to email Fiona Sandford, Chief Executive of Visionary (opens email) if you have any questions or comments.
Ends
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You can find out more about becoming a Visionary member on our Eligibility and Pricing page