From 13th – 19th May is Mental Health Awareness Week and at Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey we are highlighting how loneliness can affect the mental health of the people we support, through featuring a series of quotes and statistics across our social media platforms, FaceBook, Instagram, X, TikTok and You Tube.
Take Larraine (pictured), who has been supported by the charity for many years and told us that without one of our Communicator Guides, she would be “stuck indoors with no access to the community. I would be very isolated and depressed.”
Our Communicator Guides are trained in communications and guiding skills to support people with combined sight and hearing loss. Communicator Guide, Suzy said, “I love the relationship I build with my clients and the things I learn from them: from helping them achieve their personal goals, from fitness to further education, to essential tasks like shopping and medical appointments. I always leave my visits with a sense of achievement knowing that I have assisted them to do something they would not have been able to do without my support.”
Also featured is Birte alongside Helen, her Home Visitor (pictured). Birte has Glaucoma and Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and has been supported by the charity with rehabilitation, equipment from our resource centre and receives weekly visits from one of our Volunteer Home Visitors.
Birte said, “My visits from Helen give me the will to live: I so look forward to them, as otherwise I don’t see anyone.” Helen said, “It is immensely satisfying to help Birte, we have such a laugh.”
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, or to find out more, please visit the volunteering page of our website.
The theme for this years Mental Health Awareness Week is moving more for your mental health. For more information please visit:Mental Health Awareness Week | Mental Health Foundation
