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Support visually impaired people during COVID19

Hi.

We're the Braillists foundation. We're a grassroots group of Braille readers and enthusiasts who exist to promote and celebrate Braille. Like many of you, we've watched on in horror as the COVID-19 pandemic has taken hold in our community. Blind and partially sighted people are much more likely to be adversely affected by measures introduced by the authorities to reduce the spread of Coronavirus. We've decided this is the time to concentrate our efforts on supporting the wider visually impaired community in the United Kingdom over the coming weeks and months. 


We're going to start by making NHS public health guidelines available in accessible formats (audio, Braille and large print) to all those who need them free of charge to keep our community informed. We've published advice on staying safe and healthy during the pandemic for visually impaired people on our website (you can read it here ). We'll be making large print and Braille calling cards to leave with visually impaired people who are self-isolating to offer support available for free through our website. 


We know that social isolation is likely to be a big problem for many visually impaired people in the coming weeks and months. That's why we're taking a community-led approach to work out what resources visually impaired people will require. Starting on Friday, we'll be running a conference call at least once a week that visually impaired people across the country can dial into for advice. We'll be listening carefully to the community, and allocating our resources where they're needed most. We have access to specialised skills, a warehouse, a distribution network, so we're hoping to be able to begin offering practical support as soon as we have the funds available to us. 


We know this is a hard time for everyone, but we're appealing urgently for funds to enable us to step up the support we're able to offer as soon as practical. The Braillists Foundation is a registered charity (number 1187244). We're all volunteers, and our leaders and members are overwhelmingly blind people. While we're still in the process of identifying what support the community will need, we're united in the view that we have to take positive action. As a community group with no real overheads, any support you can give will go straight to the most vulnerable visually impaired people in our society. 


We will update this page with examples of the support you have been able to help us provide in the coming days and weeks. In the unlikely event we raise more funding than we require, the board of trustees will meet to allocate the excess to another registered charity supporting visually impaired people through the current crisis. 


We look forward to being able to provide an update on Saturday the 21st of March after we've spoken with our community and worked out where support is most needed. 


You can find more information about our response to the COVID19 pandemic at www.braillists.org/staysafe 


Thank you, 


The Braillists foundation

Organizer

Liam Smith
Organizer
BRAILLISTS FOUNDATION
 
Registered nonprofit
Donations eligible for Gift Aid.

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