Volunteers make Christmas accessible for people with sight loss

A hardworking team of more than 100 volunteers at RNIB’s transcription centre in Ivybridge are creating Christmas cards and choir sheets in a range of accessible formats so that blind and partially sighted people don’t miss out on the festivities this year.

The valuable work is taking place in Ivybridge, Devon at the Personal Transcription Centre managed by sight loss charity RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People). The centre, which transcribes 5,000 pages of print a month, provides materials in braille, large print, audio and electronic formats for people with sight loss throughout the UK.

There are approximately two million people in the UK who are living with sight loss who are entitled to use the service. The transcription team receive requests for all sorts of documents from instructions and recipes to letters and even wedding invites!

Gill Cowsill, Regional Transcription Centre Manager at Ivybridge, said:
“From the feedback we receive from our 670 customers, we know how important our service is to people living with sight loss in the UK. With our customer base growing every year, the work of our volunteers is vital for us to help as many people as possible, particularly over the Christmas period.

“We believe that everyone should be able to enjoy Christmas, and thanks to the hard work of our volunteers at Ivybridge, we can make this possible for hundreds of people living with sight loss.”

The personal Transcription Centre is available to anyone with sight loss who lives in the UK. RNIB members can request up to 300 pages of free transcription ever year. Non-members have to pay a small fee depending on their chosen transcription format, with costs based on a per page basis for written documents.

For more information about the RNIB’s transcription services call the RNIB helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk/transcription