BEACONVISION.

Beacon CEO Lisa Cowley (right) with a Beacon attendee.

Beacon

Beacon has a long standing and remarkable relationships with the J.W Hunt Cup which has raised over £320,000 since 1926. All the money raised has had a huge impact on the lives of the many people living with sight loss across the Black Country and Staffordshire.

“The J.W Hunt Cup has been a long-standing partner of Beacon and has helped raise a great deal of money over the many years we have worked with them. We see the impact the money makes from organisers, players and fans every day - for which we are very grateful. It’s a relationship we want to keep strong and continue to grow.” 
Beacon CEO, Lisa Cowley

Beacon is a well-established West Midlands charity which was founded in the Black Country and has since expanded. The charity HQ is in Wolverhampton but has a number of resource centres across the Black Country. The charity makes a visible difference to people living with sight loss and helps raise awareness of the importance of eye health. With a history that goes back over 100 years Beacon has been pioneering the way we work with people living with sight loss. Beacon has campaigned and supported several programmes for many years and was one of the first charities in the Midlands to support work programmes for those living with sight loss.

How do your donations help?
Beacon has a health and wellbeing centre which enables people living with sight loss to learn new skills and improve their health and wellbeing. We have a skills centre where you can learn cooking skills - to help understand cooking with sight loss. We have an arts and crafts centre. We also have a fitness gym, where you can keep kit with sports tailored around your disability - and understand keeping fit with life long condition such as heart disease. There is a lounge, restaurant and bar area where you can relax and socialise with people.

For those with more advance needs, we also have a resident’s area with over 70 flats. These are for those living with sight loss who need more one-to-one support. There is also a mini village, with a shop, beauty salon and other services.

One of most fascinating areas of Beacon is the Fab Lab. The Beacon Fab Lab enables individuals with sight loss, or another disability, to learn new skills in graphic design and manufacturing. Voluntary trainees can develop their knowledge of the latest tech to help boost self-confidence and employability.

How else does Beacon help

Beacon has a low vision advice centre, where you can get advice on living with sight loss – with every day challenges like making a cup of tea and tips on learning to adapt to your new condition. We also help demonstrate and sell specialist equipment and sign post people to expert help centres.

We have a fundraising and comms team, who via campaign projects and fundraising events, help raise awareness of the vital work Beacon does and raise essential funds. In addition, the team also works hard to highlight sight loss prevention as well as living with sight loss.

We work across Staffordshire and the Black Country to support people into employment. Our BBO project helps people learn new skills and supports their pathway into finding a job. But these skills can also help those not looking for employment and maybe looking to learn new life skills.

Our community programmes help people with social programmes, such as sports and day trips. We have a championship blind bowling team, as well as regular events such as cycling and blind football.

Beacon is one of few sight loss charites which is beading the campaign to raise awareness of sight loss within BAME communities (Black, Asian, Mixed Ethnic). Already Beacon has featured on BBC Asian Network and a string of other TV and radio stations.

Beacon has several charity shops dotted across the region which helps raise vital funds and sell a variety of goods.

To learn more about Beacon and its work visit: www.beaconvision.org or email info@beaconvision.org