Wilberforce Trust

23/08/2026

As mentioned yesterday, there are lots of ways you can donate to Wilberforce Trust, and support us.

One way is to sponsor our children's group, Club Wilber. Club Wilber provides accessible activities and events for young people, 0-25, with a visual impairment, and their families. The group is free to join and all the activities are there to be enjoyed by other family members too, something that isn't always possible. We welcome families from across Yorkshire and all activities are free, or heavily subsidised.

And that's where our sponsors come in. There are different tiers to sponsorship, or you can simply fund an activity. Something like our recent 7th birthday party...

For more information call 01904 760037 or email [email protected]

22/08/2026

Did you know that there's lots of ways to donate to us?

Whether its a one-off donation or you'd like to set something up on a regular basis, you can find everything you need via our website.

Simply click on the BIG orange button you see on every page and you'll be taken to our Local Giving page , or get in touch with us via an enquiry form, or by emailing [email protected] and we can set up a direct debit for you.

We're also always looking for people to support our children's group (more about that tomorrow) and you can also leave a legacy on your will via our Fundraising page too.

Without the help of our generous supporters we wouldn't be able to continue doing the work that we do, thank you.

The Wilberforce Trust is proud to have been supporting people with a visual impairment, hearing impairment or sensory loss since 1833.

21/08/2026

When you walk into Wilberforce House you're greeted not just with a warm and friendly hello from our team, but also by our large, orange 'welcome' sign. What makes this sign, and all others around the building, special is that it also features Braille.

On our large, 'welcome' sign in reception, its the star of the show and on all our other orange signs its in the bottom left corner, where you would expect to find it. This isnt just for the public either, the signs that direct you round the Head Office parts of the building also have Braille.

This is just one way that we make Wilberforce House more accessible for people with a visual impairment.

19/08/2026

First meeting at the Dringhouses ward funding meeting back in June - we were really pleased to welcome Greg from , and a brilliant group of young people from the Dringhouses area, into our building last week, for a visit to explore creativity and connection.

Together, we discussed accessibility in art, shared ideas, and talked about how small changes can make a big difference for people with sensory impairments. The young people brought imagination, curiosity and lots of chat! We can’t wait to see what they create after learning about the work of our Charity.

We’re really excited to continue building this partnership, bringing New Visuality and Club Wilber young people together to make sure art in York is truly accessible for everyone and ensure that young people are aware of their VI peers.

18/08/2026

We've spent the last year making updates to our website, to hopefully bring a much more accessible and informative experience to more of our supporters and clients.

This includes a chunk of our pages being translated into BSL, including all of our Sensory Services pages (and we're working on translating the rest...), an accessibility widget which can change the font size, colour contrast and hide images, and you'll find our videos with BSL too.

We always say its progress not perfection, and we always welcome feedback on any of our features. We're looking at more ways to improve our online presence so stick with us on the journey and let us know if you've used a feature that worked well for you.

The Wilberforce Trust is proud to have been supporting people with a visual impairment, hearing impairment or sensory loss since 1833.

17/08/2026

After much planning, and risk assessing (!), Megan took some of our Club Wilber families to for Ace Throwing!

She was joined by new Club Wilber Coordinator, Kim, who absolutely smashed it!

Activities like this push boundaries for young people with a visual impairment and hopefully brings confidence and new skills. Thank you to the venue for working with us to create this activity.



(VD- a woman has her back to the camera and throws a small axe into a target at an axe throwing venue. She is white and dressed in dark clothing and wearing a plastic Viking helmet.)

15/08/2026

We need your help!!

We are in the process of fully reviewing our quarterly newsletter, InSight, and we would like your thoughts on content.

If you currently follow us and our services and activities, or if you'd like to join us on our journey, please drop us a message, or comment on here. We'd love to know what people would like to read about!

We are also reviewing how we provide InSight. From the standard print, to large print, to audio. Again, if you have any thoughts on ways you would like to receive InSight, let us know that too.

13/08/2026

Unfortunately our Therapy Dogs session is cancelled today, we apologise for the short notice.

If you are still fancying a trip out to see us, then Weston's Cafe is open until 3pm, serving iced coffees and a selection of ice creams for this hot weather!

12/08/2026

Across the world people are getting ready for the most significant solar eclipse since 1999.

Looking directly at the sun can damage your eyes to click the link and follow the BBC News tips on how to witness this eclipse safely-

The Moon will block out more than 90% of the Sun in the UK from around 18:00 BST, while parts of Iceland and Spain will witness a rare total eclipse.