SIGHT LOSS CHARITY’S NEW VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT CO-ORDINATOR SEEKS TO BOOST ‘CRUCIAL VOLUNTEER SUPPORT’

Norfolk’s sight loss charity Vision Norfolk has appointed a new volunteer engagement co-ordinator to boost the charity’s crucial volunteer support.

Sophie Chapman-Smith will be responsible for recruiting and managing volunteers into Vision Norfolk’s hospital-based Eye Clinic Liaison service and its Community Outreach service, two key areas where volunteers play an important role in providing support to vision impaired people across the county.

Vision Norfolk has four Eye Clinic Liaison Officers based at eye clinics in the county’s hospitals in Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King’s Lynn and Cromer, aimed at providing emotional and practical support for people at the point of diagnosis.  These staff members are supplemented by a team of volunteers who work in the clinics.

The charity’s Community Outreach service is designed to support people with wight loss to live independent lives in their own homes.  A team of community outreach workers is helped by a large group of volunteers who help clients with practical issues such as transport to medical appointments, as well as providing befriending and emotional support.

Ms Chapman-Smith joins Vision Norfolk from the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, where she was volunteers officer.  She has also held similar roles at the Build Charity and the Norfolk Deaf Association.

“Volunteers are the lifeblood of almost every charity, and they enable organisations such as Vision Norfolk to deliver so much more support to the people who need it the most,” she said.

“Volunteering is also a hugely rewarding thing to do in itself.  It can really boost people’s confidence, give them new skills which they can carry forward into their careers, or simply be a fulfilling way of giving something back to the community.”

Anyone interested in volunteering for Vision Norfolk can contact Sophie Chapman-Smith on 01603 573000 ext 328 or by emailing sophie.chapman-smith@visionnorfolk.org.uk.  More details on volunteering opportunities with the charity can be found at www.visionnorfolk.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer.