BBC Spotlight shines a light on iSightCornwall

iSightCornwall on BBC Spotlight

It was a busy start to the week at iSightCornwall’s Sight Centre yesterday as staff welcomed the team from BBC Spotlight in to demonstrate the important work of charity as well as discuss the launch of our fundraising appeal.

Reporter John Henderson visited the centre to find out more about the work of iSightCornwall and meet with people who have used our services.

Real people, real stories

John met with Jean; who recently joined our Walking Buddy scheme, Haydn; who we have helped since he was a young boy by teaching him about different gadgets to help him stay independent, and Luci; who we recently helped at her job by showing her different magnifiers, gadgets and tips which could make her daily tasks easier.

Each one spoke very kind words about iSightCornwall and these glowing testimonials were aired on BBC One last night.

Carole’s thoughts

Chief Executive, Carole Theobald also spoke to the filming team. In her interview she revealed how much the demand has increased on the iSightCornwall services and how incoming funds were decreasing, leaving fears that the charity may find themselves in trouble in the near future.

Carole said: “We’re usually very polite when it comes to asking for donations and in our fundraising but this time we’re having to increase the urgency. We’re so proud of our services and how much we are able to help people in Cornwall who are affected by sight loss and we do not want these services to be put into doubt in the future.

“We’re trying to reach those people who may not have heard of us or needed our services yet and get across the message that we are the support for people with sight loss in Cornwall and to continue being that support, we need the help of our Cornish community.

“It was fantastic to be able to involve people we have directly helped and who have real stories and I want to give my sincere thanks to Jean, Haydn and Luci for all of their help in working with the BBC Spotlight team and iSightCornwall in our continued campaigning.”

How you can help

The iSightCornwall See the difference. Be the difference campaign is asking you to help the charity continue making a difference for many generations to come. If you would like to support the campaign with a donation, click here. If you are interested in volunteering with iSightCornwall, click here and if you would like information about inviting iSightCornwall to your community group or organisation to give a talk, click here to email us.

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