Volunteers Wanted to Help Change Lives

1 August 2023

SeeAbility champions better eye care for people with learning disabilities and autism, many of whom have experienced significant sight loss. They actively encourage people to challenge what they expect from life, from themselves and from wider society, guiding them to overcome huge barriers to achieve exciting new things every day: some big, some small – all extraordinary.

The charity’s long term aim is to create more opportunities for people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss to live, love, thrive and belong. With this in mind, SeeAbility runs a range of core projects and programmes all designed to:

• Improve quality of life via the provision of ambitious, inclusive and specialist support
• Facilitate more people to get the eye care they need, wherever they live
• Encourage more people to participate in the life of their local communities and to change society for the better, as equal citizens

Now that SeeAbility is officially our Charity of the Year, we hope that our business partners employees, colleagues, families and friends can all be a part of this extraordinary work helping over 250 people with learning disabilities to live their best possible lives.

Joining Hands and Making a Difference Together

During August and September, we are actively helping to recruit volunteers to help out on a range of the charity’s initiatives – no experience is necessary and no minimum time commitment is required.

Whether you want to give back to your community, make a difference, meet new people, develop new skills or build on existing experience, volunteering will be incredibly rewarding and you could be key to transforming somebody’s life.

Other personal development benefits that are associated with regular volunteering include gaining a sense of purpose, developing new skills, fostering meaningful connections and boosting your self esteem. You will also learn a lot about disabilities and gain insights into the sorts of challenges faced by people who have been diagnosed with them – as well as the passions and aspirations that drive them to live their best possible lives.

One example of SeeAbility’s current high profile campaigns that you might consider volunteering with is the Ready Willing and Able supported employment programme. It was developed on the premise that everyone deserves the opportunity to have a career, not just a job, and that an inclusive workforce leads to greater diversity of thought and innovation.

SeeAbility’s work to support people with learning disabilities and autism extends to helping people to:

• Understand job adverts
• Fill in application forms
• Write or improve CVs
• Write cover letters
• Get prepared for interviews
• Get ready to start employment

As well as individual volunteers, SeeAbility is also looking for businesses who can offer short term work experience programmes to people with learning disabilities. If this is something you would like to do, SeeAbility will work with your organisation to find the right participants, help them settle into their new routines and generally assist you to make your workplace as accessible as possible for all.

To read more about how to get involved in hosting supported employment programmes, click here.

Other Ways You Can Help

In addition to SeeAbility’s formal programmes, there are many other activities and campaigns you can volunteer to get involved in, depending on your interests, experience and availability. These range from fundraising in the community and desk research to administration and helping out at events.

For an exploratory discussion about the options and opportunities on offer, please email communications@primaryeyecare.co.uk using the title ‘Volunteering with SeeAbility’.

Chantell Mills-Callard, Head of Strategic Partnerships, SeeAbility said:

“Our volunteers are an extraordinary group of individuals whose commitment to our charity’s mission never ceases to amaze us. Witnessing the dedication and passion they bring to their roles fills us with immense gratitude and pride. They find genuine fulfillment in making a difference to the lives of people we support at SeeAbility, and their impact is evident in the positive transformations we see each day as a result of providing not only practical support but also a sense of hope and belonging. Any new volunteers who would like to join our team will be made very welcome!”