Weekly tracking
Local charity for the visually impaired expands services to assist all in need across Chester and Ellesmere Port during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chester and District Federation of the Blind is a small, local charity run by and for people who are blind and partially sighted. They have a large building with catering fridges and freezers, a number of vehicles and 200 long-standing volunteers and have stepped up to provide vital services for the whole community irrespective of their vision.
Charity manager Sue Hearfield said “The most important part of the service is that we are able to track the changes in people’s circumstances. Someone may have practical support one week but that may be on hold the following week. We are trying to fill in some of the gaps. We’ve been a registered charity since 2009 and it’s lovely to be in a position to try and help the communities which have supported us both with monetary and other donations over the years. Our members are in the main, vulnerable and elderly, many suffer from chronic illnesses as well as sight loss. it is very important that our members self-isolate. When COVID-19 made it impossible for us to run our regular services we turned to supporting our members and other members of our community in other ways. We have set up a Telephone Befriending service. Each vulnerable person needing support has his or her own telephone befriender. The befriender will call as many times as is required to offer support and practical help. Once a week the telephone befrienders call the office with the shopping lists of all the people they are in contact with. We then shop and deliver. We also provide a prescription collection service and provide an emergency food service for people with no money and have slipped through the net. When it became clear that our members were desperately missing their audiobooks we contacted the local council who have loaned us their supply of audiobooks. We are able to deliver and collect both audio and paper-back books.
”Cllr Matt Bryan said “ CDFB’s quick reaction to the pandemic over the past 8 weeks has been really successful and has provided a crucial service for people in need in a rapidly changing situation across our whole area, thank you!”
CDFB have been working with the local council, doctor’s surgeries, local Mutual-Aid groups and local Community Transport and are grateful for the assistance received from the Steve Morgan Foundation and Cheshire West and Chester Council.