Sight loss charity boss relieved as future secured

The founder of a charity once on the verge of closure has spoken of her relief after its long-term future was secured.

In April, Staffordshire Sight Loss Association said it would be forced to shut down unless it could raise at least £100,000 to keep services operating.

Since then, about £60,000 has been collected through donations and, recently, the Postcode Lottery awarded it a £50,000 grant.

Suzanne Roberts, who founded the Stoke-on-Trent charity in 2018, said the money meant it could remain open for at least the next three years.

Asked how she felt, Roberts told BBC Radio Stoke: "I think relief, really. We were at risk of closure in April and we were all absolutely devastated.

"We've all worked really hard to turn things around. The community has got behind us so much and we're still here because of the community – all the donations people have made and all the support people have given us.

"But we knew to carry on, we needed some success with our grant applications and this is a massive step forward for us."

She said the team had lost hope earlier in the year after a number of funding applications were rejected.

Roberts said the charity was continuing to organise fundraising events, which include a sponsored zip wire later this year.

"It's just a massive difference for us in our feeling," she added. "We've got a lot of hope for the future that we didn't have before."

Ian Wiltshaw, a trustee who is registered blind, said it was "absolutely brilliant" and thanked people for their donations.

"Without these kind people, this kind of brilliant work would probably just disappear," Wiltshaw explained.

"It means the world to me and it means the world to go out to visit people and help them."

The charity covers the north Staffordshire area, where about 17,000 people are living with sight loss, a figure estimated to rise to more than 19,000 by 2030, according to the organisation.

After it was founded in 2018, it was funded primarily through National Lottery schemes between 2020 and 2025.

It provides advice or information about independent living and runs social support groups, whose work includes setting up day trips for its users.

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