Working holistically with existing businesses and service providers in Tyne and Wear and County Durham localities to empower a proactive approach to sensory inclusive service offer at customer service and strategic levels. Developing training for staff, volunteers and businesses to proactively include customers and service users with Visual Impairment or reduced sight/ sight loss. We currently provide a HUB for people with Visual Impairment, offering support on all aspects of daily life. We want to extend our service provision to encourage existing businesses, care providers, medical care providers, social care providers, schools, small businesses, employers and public service providers to offer VIP inclusive service provision. We are currently offering VI awareness training to friends and family of visually impaired people (VIP). We want all employers, service providers and public facing organisations to include VI awareness training to all staff to promote community inclusion.

What we'll deliver:

• face to face training
• video training
• group sessional training
• remote training and guidance over teams
• focus groups to ensure training is relevant to sensory

Why it's a great idea:

The benefit of service providers, companies and educational providers being VI inclusive means a stronger sense of community. Tyne and Wear and County Durham will be championed as VI inclusive cities. This will promote understanding and inclusion amongst wider public communities to offer inclusive communities for VIPs. Health and Wellbeing of VIPs will be positively impacted by living in VI inclusive communities. VIP will feel more confident and able to tackle daily life tasks independently knowing that service providers, retail premises, medical care providers and small businesses are VI inclusive. Wider inclusion in schools, public social areas, transport providers, care providers. Our project will encourage businesses, service providers, schools, activity clubs to interact with training so they can display the VI Aware certificate in their quality assurance policy documentation.

Steps to get it done:

• collaborating with teacher of the Blind

We regularly survey our 3000+ members and lack of understanding and gaps in basic service provision is highlighted frequently as people report being left to their own devices in overnight stays in hospital, using public transport, GP services and general day to day community interaction. We would like to develop a wider understanding in our localities to empower front line staff in communicating confidently to engage VIPs and offer VIPs inclusion in wider public service offers and community venues.