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An Open Letter from the Chair to SVI Members, Supporters, Partners and Elected Representatives
Sandwell Visually Impaired (SVI) was formed because it was identified that there were no services within the borough of Sandwell to recognise and provide support to visually impaired people even though a great need existed.
For 22 years, SVI user-lead charity, has been supporting blind and visually impaired people across Sandwell. In July 2025, we were informed that council funding would taper over three years from April 2026. We later discovered that while core running costs remained, the offer did not include the council seconded staff or the SVI offices. We have asked the council if we are to keep our seconded staff and our offices, but they have neither mailed nor attended ANY Meeting to provide a response. Securing a large-scale revenue grant is a 12–24-month process. Should we lose our seconded staff and accommodation, Sandwell Visually Impaired will fold.
We are based in the ground floor of the annexe at West Bromwich Town Hall. This location, where we have been based since 2017, is centrally located in the borough and has excellent, accessible transport links including taxi drop, bus and Metro stops situated near by.
I feel, as SVI’s Chair of the Board of Trustees, it is important that elected councillors, partner organisations, and the wider community fully understand what services SVI deliver day to day through 4 part-time staff, a dedicated team of 26 volunteers, operating out of a few council rooms on a budget of what may be, £6,400, if this decision remains.
We are a user-led organisation built on the experience of sight loss and it’s impact on a daily basis. For many Sandwell residents and their families, we are the first place they turn when facing the uncertainty of a life-changing sight loss diagnosis.
For our older members, we provide the skills to navigate a world that includes health and a council digital system that is becoming increasingly difficult to access.
We support younger working-age adults who are trying to adapt to sight loss to remain in employment or rebuild their careers.
We alleviate pressure on the NHS and local Social Care services with early isolation and mental health prevention.
We provide expert insight to the tech, media, academic and arts sectors, some of our members have collaborated with global platforms like Netflix and Google, encouraging high value innovation to be brought directly to Sandwell and beyond.
As a specialist partner for fitness, health, art and music we unlock external grant funding and bring fresh investment into Sandwell.
Should Sandwell Visually Impaired fold, so too will Sandwell Talking News, a volunteer-led organisation that for 47 years has provided a weekly audio newspaper, and now podcast, sharing local news, council information, and uplifting local stories for visually impaired residents who have difficulty accessing the printed word.
STN provides intergenerational volunteering and practical media experience for volunteers aged 8–80, developing communication, journalism, broadcasting, and digital skills that align with the Government’s continued investment in the creative industries while supporting pathways into employment, higher education, and wider opportunities for young people.
External grant funding has enabled STN to train older volunteers in accessible digital podcasting and broadcasting, bringing fresh investment into Sandwell to modernise services.
We have supported local residents to remain connected to local democracy, community life, and public services, providing digital inclusion and reducing social isolation.
SVI’s staff includes our part time Development Worker (who works full time giving her voluntary hours) and our part time Business Support Officer. Our office spaces, unique in that they are fully accessible from home to door, are where all our support and services take place.
SVI understands the financial pressures facing our local authority’s Adult Social Care services. The cost to fully support SVI for 1 year may well be the salary of 1 senior social worker. I write this letter because uncertainty itself is what now threatens Sandwell visually Impaired.
As Chair, I remain deeply proud of what SVI has achieved over the past two decades and I am grateful to every member, volunteer, partner organisation, and supporter who has helped make that possible.
If you feel you would like to support SVI, you can do so by contacting your local councillor and expressing your concern, you can share this letter across social media and within your own group chats and DMs (Direct Messaging) to help raise awareness of the work SVI continues to do and the importance of protecting services for blind and visually impaired people across Sandwell.
I remain hopeful that a constructive way forward can still be found, but time is becoming increasingly important.
Thank you for your continued support.
Tony Averis
Chair of the Board of Trustees, Sandwell Visually Impaired
