Special fund to help the visually impaired

VISUALLY impaired people are getting access to specialist software which will enable them to use computers.

The News' Community Fund has allocated £1,982 to Saffron Sight, a Saffron Walden based charity which will use the money to demonstrate specialist software to people with sight loss The charity already uses the software at its resource centre, but needs a laptop for its information desk at the Saffron Walden Hospital to raise awareness of how useful it can be.

"We are absolutely delighted to receive this kind donation," said Madeleine Cassidy, director.
Text enlargement and voice recognition software allow visually impaired people to use word processing, spreadsheets, and the internet.

Saffron Sight helps about 1500- 2000 visually impaired people annually through their resource centre, located on Central Arcade, Saffron Walden. They also make home visits, aiming to carry out around 300 visits every year.