Services available to members.
Services available to everyone.
Home Visiting Service
EBS members can receive a home visit on a regular basis or through our Visit on Request service (VOR). We will discuss this with you as part of your membership enrolment. Visits are made by our team of Welfare Officers.
Regular visits happen on a rotational basis without prior appointment. A VOR visit is made by appointment and is initiated by a member/support/carer/family request. Please contact the Centre (01323 729511) for more information.
Receiving a home visit can make an enormous difference and members really value the confidential support, advice and interest shown.
The EBS team work together to ensure the most effective support is provided and a home visit could be followed up by our Low Vision Support Worker and/or our Resource Officer as appropriate.
Resource Centre
The Resource Centre operates during normal Centre opening times. It is always advisable to make an appointment to see our Resource Officer Hannah.
A wide range of low vision aids and equipment designed to help people with low vison can be demonstrated. A small stock is available for immediate purchase (at cost price) and an ordering service is available for any items not in stock.
Hannah will be happy to discuss the range of equipment available and can conduct research to find suitable solutions to problems.
To be certain of being seen it is always better to make an appointment, which you can do by ringing 01323 729511 or by speaking to your Welfare Officer.
Audio Library
Eastbourne Blind Society has a library of over 2,000 talking books mainly on cassettes but with an increasing number on CD which are available to be loaned out to members. A large number of the titles have been generously donated to us for this purpose and we are particulary grateful to Eastbourne Rotary Club for their recent donation of unabridged titles.
You will be asked to select your interest from a range of genres and a personalised reading list will be compiled for you. We ask you to select titles you are interested in - it is better to select as many as you can - and these will be sent to you in a black plastic pouch using Royal Mail. Once the book has been enjoyed and returned a new title will be sent out.
There is no charge for this service and posting is free under the Articles for the Blind scheme.
Shopping Bus
Each week, a number of our members are picked up from home in one of our minibuses, taken to Asda to do their shopping and taken back home again. This service has proved to be invaluable in helping our members in a practical way to maintain their independence. We make a small charge towards the cost of providing the minibus.
Many friendships have been forged on the bus, experiences shared and the shopping trips made entertaining as well as practical.
We have given Vision Awareness Training to the ASDA staff to ensure the best shopping experience possible.
Space on the minibus is limited and it is therefore essential to register interest in this and to always inform the office if you are unable to attend on any given day.
Vision Awareness
We are able to offer vision awareness training and advice to individuals, organisations or companies who have dealings, directly or indirectly, with visually impaired people. Relatives, care providers or employers are all welcome to contact us.
ViewPoint
Our newsletter, ViewPoint, is published four times a year giving information about EBS and relevant interesting articles. This is available in MP3 format and can be sent via email if required. It is also avilable on the website as a download. or can be posted through Royal Mail. Those who receive regular visiting will get their copy through their Welfare Officer.
Services available to everyone
Low Vision Support Service
This service is funded by East Sussex County Council and benefits people who have concerns about lowering vision. The service is available cross-county (through the East Sussex Vision Care consortium) and enables immediate access to advice, support and signposting to relevant services. Our Low Vision Support Worker Kim works closely with the local eye clinic and liaises with the EBS team to assess individual needs and to provide appropriate support.
Similar services are also provided from Sussex Eye Hospital, Brighton and the Conquest Hospital, Hastings.
Vision Awareness
An important aspect of our service is to offer Vision Awareness training to individuals and organisations. Experiencing some VA training can make a significant difference to the visually impaired people with whom you have contact. Please get in touch with us if you want to talk to us about this in more detail.