Support 4 Sight

05/06/2026

Friday Round-Up
What a busy and rewarding couple of weeks it's been at Support 4 Sight!
Canalability Boat Trip
On Wednesday 27th May, we enjoyed a wonderful trip along the beautiful River Stort with CanalAbility. Members soaked up the sunshine, took in the peaceful canal surroundings, and even had the chance to steer the boats and help operate the locks! The day was topped off with delicious scones, jam and cream (we'll leave the debate about what goes on first to you! 😉)
A huge thank you to the fantastic Canalability team for making the day so special. Keep an eye out for a full video of the trip coming soon!

Picnic Dates Rescheduled
Unfortunately, the recent wet weather meant we had to postpone our picnics, but we're pleased to announce the new dates (weather permitting):
Wednesday 17th June, 11.00am – Broomfield Village Hall
Tuesday 23rd June, 11.00am – Harlow Town Park
Tuesday 7th July, 12.00pm – Jubilee Gardens, Saffron Walden

Volunteer Week 2026
As part of Volunteer Week, we were delighted to attend the Saffron Walden Volunteer Recruitment Fair at the Town Hall. It was a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of Support 4 Sight, highlight the vital role our volunteers play in supporting blind and partially sighted people, meet potential new volunteers, and connect with other local organisations.
A big thank you to Collette Kerr and everyone at Saffron Walden Town Council for hosting such a successful event, even managing to keep everything running despite a power cut!
On Thursday, we joined Chelmsford CVS at Volfest on Chelmsford High Street. Despite experiencing a little bit of everything weather-wise, sunshine, rain and wind, it was a fantastic day. We met lots of new people, shared information about our services, and networked with a wide range of inspiring charities from across Essex and beyond. It was wonderful to get out into the community and introduce Support 4 Sight to so many new faces.

• Coming Up Next Week
Monday 8th June – Epping Sight Hub. Paul from AbilityNet will be joining us for a technology session, so bring along your gadgets and questions!

Cockney Night Returns! Friday 10th July, 7.30pm – 11.00pm
Galleywood Heritage Centre, The Common (off Margaretting Road), Chelmsford, CM2 8TR
We're delighted to welcome back Tom Carradine and his famous ol' Joanna for an evening of Cockney sing-along favourites! Enjoy songs from the music hall era, both World Wars, the West End stage, and much-loved classics through the decades. Fish and chips supper included, Bring your own bottle, £25 per person.
It's guaranteed to be a good old-fashioned knees-up!
Have a wonderful weekend from everyone at Support 4 Sight!

02/06/2026

Unfortunately we have had to make the decision to postpone the picnic tomorrow in Chelmsford, due to the weather but we are still holding our Sight hub in the hall from 10.30-1.45, at Broomfield Village Hall!
We will keep everyone posted about new picnic dates

01/06/2026

Volunteer Celebration
The first week of June is Volunteer Week, a great opportunity to celebrate and raise awareness of the amazing volunteers and trustees at Support 4 Sight!
With over 50 active volunteers, this year alone, they have clocked up a huge 2016 hours of volunteering, an incredible contribution that reflects the time, care and compassion they give so generously. Whether it’s offering a friendly voice on the phone, welcoming someone to a social activity, or helping our team keep services running smoothly, every hour they give helps us continue supporting blind and partially sighted people.
Around 2 thirds of our volunteers are visually impaired themselves and can draw on their lived experience of sight loss to help others.
Our volunteers give their time in many ways, including befriending calls, running social groups, helping at events, assisting with office tasks behind the scenes and tirelessly fundraising to help keep the charity going. Their kindness, dedication and willingness to help make a real difference to people living with sight loss across our community.
We are grateful to each and every volunteer for the difference they make every single day.
Thank you for being such an important part of Support 4 Sight!
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for Support 4 Sight or need support with sight loss, please contact us on 01245 933572 or email [email protected]. Visit our website for more information about our services and support www.support4sight.org.uk
#2026

26/05/2026

Support 4 Sight, as part of the Rainbow Group, invites you to meet Vicky from Sutton Vision on Thursday, the 28th of May 2026 at 10.00.
The Rainbow Group is an award winning collaboration of local sight loss organisations in England.

Vicky is the Assistive Technology Coordinator at Sutton Vision in South London.
Vicky will be sharing a new “Live AI” experience on the Meta AI glasses using the Orion app. This app has been available for some years on the iPhone to assist with locating objects, and it can also be personalised. Recently, due to the opening of Meta, Orion is now available on the Meta AI glasses.
This has allowed some live features to come to the glasses, such as detection of obstacles in front of you whilst walking about and locating objects in a real time situation.
We will try to share some examples and open a discussion about this new feature and anything else Meta AI glasses have to offer.

How to join?
Online: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4580437872
Phone: 0203 481 5237
Meeting ID: 458 043 7872
Not available?
The sessions are recorded and are available on various platforms.
Podcast Episodes - https://livewellwithsightloss.buzzsprout.com/
Live Well Archive -https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4SUhjl38VsHiHsqUo_Q6MZ8uKl5BcXY-
Tech Sessions - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4SUhjl38VsGHMcZ_RRl1F62rttfsZLfg
Please join us.
We are also interested to hear from you if you have a particular interest that you would like to know more about, if you have an interesting story to tell or if you know someone else who does.
Please email to [email protected] and put Rainbow in the subject box.

22/05/2026

Friday Round Up
It’s been another busy and inspiring week at Support 4 Sight!
• On Tuesday, 9 people joined us at Blossom Bites Café & Tearooms in Wimbish, Saffron Walden, for a lovely lunch and catch-up outside of our regular monthly Sight Hubs. Great food and even better company made for a fantastic afternoon.
• We were delighted to welcome AbilityNet representative Paul to our Chelmsford Sight Hub. Nineteen attendees enjoyed an insightful session exploring accessibility features including text-to-speech tools and descriptive picture technology. Everyone came away having learned something new and looking forward to future sessions!
• Sharon and Ava proudly represented Support 4 Sight at the Co-op Star celebration in Chelmsford during the wider Co-op Annual Members Meeting. It was wonderful to meet Co-op members and connect with fellow grant recipients.
• Sharon also attended another thought-provoking session as part of the Creating Cohesion in Leadership training programme. Thank you to Fiona Sandford at Visionary and Dr Nicki Shaw at Birch Associates for such valuable discussions.
Our summer picnics are just around the corner!
2nd June – Saffron Walden
3rd June – Chelmsford
23rd June – Harlow
All start at 11am. Please contact us to let us know if you’ll be attending, along with any dietary requirements.

Looking Ahead to Next Week
• Tuesday 26th May – Saffron Walden Sight Hub coffee catch-up.
• Friday 29th May – Takeley Sight Hub, where we’ll be exploring everyday low vision aids.
• Canalability - We still have 2 places available! Meet at Canalability in Harlow for a fantastic experience. £25 per person, contact us to secure your place before they’re gone!

Essex has a yellow heat health alert in place from today until next week and we know everyone will want to be enjoying the warmer weather but its important to remember that high temperatures may increase the risk of dehydration, overheating and heat exhaustion. So stay safe and well in the warmer weather!

20/05/2026

June is our month for Picnics!
Join us for our ever-popular picnics in the park, food drinks and fun in the sun (hopefully) please do let us know if you’re attending, cost and if you have any dietary requirements.
Tuesday 2nd June - Saffron Walden Jubilee Gardens 11am
Wednesday 3rd June - Chelmsford Broomfield Village Hall 11am
Tuesday 23rd June - Harlow Town Park 11am

15/05/2026

Friday Round Up
• Congratulations to volunteer Chris Packford, who has been awarded Lifetime Membership of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians. The award recognises his exceptional contribution to the profession and acknowledges the impact and sustained commitment he has shown over many years. Well done Chris. We are all extremely proud of you!
• We welcomed AbilityNet to our Braintree Hub, where 14 people received guidance and tips on mobile phone and iPad accessibility, including voice control. Tech sessions were also run by Tommy at our Witham and Chelmsford Hub.
• Our Chelmsford Hub welcomed PCSO Christine, who popped in to introduce herself and plans to return regularly to help maintain an Essex Police presence.

Next Week
• Tuesday 19th May - Harlow Playhouse Hub
Tech Session with Tommy - bring your gadgets!
• Tuesday 19th May - Saffron Walden Lunch Club
Blossom Bites, Wimbish. Call us to book a space.
• Wednesday 20th May - Chelmsford Hub
AbilityNet session - bring your gadgets!
• 2 places available for the Canalability trip on Wednesday 27th May!
Meet at Canalability in Harlow. £25 per person. Contact us before these final two spaces go!

14/05/2026

Get Set Progress Internships by Thomas Pocklington Trust provide paid, supported internships for blind and partially sighted people, including funding towards interns’ salaries and ongoing employer support.
As Thomas Pocklington Trust says, “We believe that everyone deserves equal access to career opportunities.”
Blind and partially sighted people bring valuable skills, perspectives, and experience to the workplace, and local employers are being encouraged to get involved and help create more inclusive opportunities.
As Tommy reaches the final month of his internship with us, we’re proud to share his reflections and celebrate the positive impact of this valuable opportunity.

10/05/2026

Support 4 Sight, as part of the Rainbow Group, invites you to meet Tracey Clarke from Accessible Waterways Association on Thursday, the 14th of May 2026 at 10.00.
The Rainbow Group is an award winning collaboration of local sight loss organisations in England.

Tracey will give a little background about herself and her sight loss, as well as share her story of how she came to be living aboard a narrowboat, and thus on to how and why she has formed the Accessible Waterways Association www.awa-uk.org.uk and what it is all about.
www.awa-uk.org.uk

How to join?
Online: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4580437872
Phone: 0203 481 5237
Meeting ID: 458 043 7872
Not available?
The sessions are recorded and are available on various platforms.
Podcast Episodes - https://livewellwithsightloss.buzzsprout.com/
Live Well Archive -https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4SUhjl38VsHiHsqUo_Q6MZ8uKl5BcXY-
Tech Sessions - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4SUhjl38VsGHMcZ_RRl1F62rttfsZLfg
Please join us.
We are also interested to hear from you if you have a particular interest that you would like to know more about, if you have an interesting story to tell or if you know someone else who does.
Please email to [email protected] and put Rainbow in the subject box.

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08/05/2026

HumanWare representative, Steve recently visited our Saffron Walden Sight Hub, giving 12 members the opportunity to experience a range of assistive technologies. These included the explore 12 and the Victor Reader, designed to help people read text, listen to audio content, and make use of AI-powered features in their everyday lives. representative, Steve recently visited our Saffron Walden Sight Hub, giving 12 members the opportunity to experience a range of assistive technologies. These included the explore 12 and the Victor Reader, designed to help people read text, listen to audio content, and make use of AI-powered features in their everyday lives. HumanWare
We look forward to having Humanware back to attend our Exhibitions during 2026!