“Christopher Grange Visual Rehabilitation Centre wins a National Innovation Award for the UK’s first online distance learning Visual Impairment Awareness Training course”

Within the 2015 National Visionary Awards as announced at the Visionary Annual Conference in Edinburgh on 20^th October 2015, Christopher Grange Visual Rehabilitation Centre won a national award for ‘Innovation’.  This comes as a direct result of the UK’s first Visual impairment Awareness Training (VIAT) that can be taken online or through distance learning. The course designed by the professional team of rehabilitation specialists, volunteers and service users is for anyone who may come into contact with a person who is visually impaired.

Mike Bailey said, “We are delighted to win such a prestigious award and have been blown away by the response and feedback that we have received so far, we feel ‘we have opened the gates to visual impairment awareness training’ which can only benefit everyone and  make a positive impact on the lives of people who struggle with sight loss every day.

The Visionary Awards 2015 judging panel was made up of representatives from VISION 2020 UK and Thomas Pocklington Trust.  Alison Oliver, CEO at Visionary, commented that the panel were impressed by how the Christopher Grange Rehab Centre used their knowledge and experience to design an awareness course that has the potential for reaching a wide range of people both within and outside the sight loss sector. They saw the potential for this to make a big difference in the inclusion of people with sight loss and particularly liked the way that this initiative brought innovation in improving visual impairment awareness together with new ways of generating funds for local sight loss societies through their participation in promoting the training. Alison Oliver CEO Visionary.

For information and interviews contact:

Mike Bailey Manager – Christopher Grange Visual Rehabilitation Centre

0151 220 2525

mikebailey@christophergrange.org

NOTES TO EDITORS

Visionary is the only organisation that supports local independent charities that support blind and partially sighted people across the UK.  These independent local societies provide practical on the ground services for local people with sight loss.  Currently Visionary has over 100 local society members throughout the UK. www.visionary.org.uk

VISION 2020 was established in 2003 in support of the VISION 2020 global initiative and we are leading partners of the international Agency for the prevention of Blindness (APB) www.vision2020uk.org.uk