Hastings blind people to benefit thanks to charity grant

British Wireless has received a donation which will benefit people with sight loss who live in Hastings.

Visually impaired people living in Hastings will benefit thanks to a grant received by a national charity.

British Wireless has recently been supported by the Magdalen and Lasher Charity.

The organisation was founded in the thirteenth century and has been assisting families, schools and people in need in Hastings since then. It has donated £1,000 to BWBF to help people living in the area with sight loss.

The money will be used to provide our popular multimedia players, the Concerto 2, to some of the town’s visually impaired people. As well as an easy to use radio, the set also has a CD player, tape deck, SD card slot and USB slot for users to play their audio content in whichever format they choose.

Many visually impaired people are unable to read a newspaper or watch the television, and often spend a lot of time alone at home, so a radio is their way of accessing news, music, entertainment and information.

For many who often lead lonely lives, it can also provide companionship. 

British Wireless is currently supporting almost 350 people in East Sussex, but there are around 600 more who are eligible for its service but not accessing it.

Trusts Officer Frances Fielding said: “We are so grateful for this grant and would like to thank the Magdalen and Lasher Charity for its support.

“We know from research we have undertaken that there are many more people we could be helping in East Sussex so we hope this grant could help us reach some of them.

“As we receive no government funding, we rely on donations such as this to continue providing our service.

“Radio can be a vital lifeline to someone who has sight loss.”