Chief Executive S Message

ViewPoint

THE EBS NEWSLETTER

Chief Executive’s Message

Happy New Year and thank you for the Christmas cards, donations and good wishes sent in. These were very much appreciated by us all. We were particularly pleased to hear so many of you thanking us for the 2018 calendars which you received from EBS as our Christmas present to you. It was great to hear how useful you find them.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the EBS team for all the hard work they put in over the Christmas period delivering cards and calendars. Somewhere in the region of 600 visits were made in the few weeks before Christmas, and they well deserved their short Christmas break. This first ViewPoint of 2018 features a couple of articles from EBS members which I am sure you will enjoy. Thanks to them both for their interest and willingness to share their experiences with you all. Do, please, let us have

any articles, poems – jokes – that you wouldn’t mind sharing.

Our weekly Benefits Surgery has now stopped although you can still get advice from us. If we are unable to help directly we can signpost you

to other appropriate support. A lot of people benefitted from this service while it was running and my thanks to Jo for all she did.

The Resource Room “Drop In Day” on Thursdays is being restructured. It is always safer to make an appointment if you wish to be certain of seeing Mark for any reason – advice or demonstration or sales. Contact him on 729511 or by email

Best wishes to you all

Deirdre

Previously loved

We currently have a good selection of second hand items available for purchase. These include, among other things:

Communiclock at £15 Cube clock at £10 Penfriend at £30 Monomouse at £45

Big button landline phone at £15

Talking watches at £10

Pebble (electronic magnifier) at £100

If you are interested in any of these items please contact Mark and he will happily demonstrate them for you. All prices are an indication according to price of items when bought new.

Financial abuse

This article will help you by highlighting some ways you can help keep yourself financially safe:

• Never let anyone into your home unless you can confirm their identity or they have made an appointment

• Only book work on a house through ‘trusted trader’ schemes

• Treat anyone who asks for your financial details with suspicion, unless this is something you have asked for

• Check bank statements regularly and track receipts

• Reduce how much money can be taken from an account at any one time

• Have a copy of the bank statement sent to someone trustworthy to check

• Limit the use of ‘chip and pin’ to control money

• Keep important documents and valuables out of sight

Note that banks will never ask you for your account number or pin details over the phone or via email.

Anyone who has concerns that they, or someone close to them, are being financially abused is urgedtocall the Action on Elder Abuseconfidential helpline (080 8808 8141) which can offer support and advice on all aspects of elder abuse.

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Running - Trust & Freedom

One of our members, Martin Sales, has sent in the following article which he hopes will be of interest and may be inspiration to some of you as a New Year gets going. He is very happy to talk directly to anyone.

“In Jan 2016, at 42 years old, I had a stroke and lost about 40-50% of my sight. The first year after the stroke was a year of uncertainties; I had questions about whether my sight would return, and whether I would have further strokes.

My life, work and independence came to a shuddering halt, with many trips to various hospital departments and having countless tests. With time I returned to work, but with restrictions and my GP gave the thumbs up for me to exercise.

I found it progressively more difficult to adjust to, and accept, the reality of an improved, but still restricted sight loss (now at about 30%). I was told that I would not be allowed to drive again and would be unlikely to regain much more sight. I am thankful for the sight I do have and acknowledge the stroke could have affected me much worse, but this didn’t stop me slipping into a dark, almost hermit-like place.

I took up jogging as my previous hobby, badminton, seemed to be ruled out due to

transport issues and my sight loss. At first I stuck to jogging locally with trusted friends, and then I joined a local running group. This quickly progressed to joining the free weekly events organised by Parkrun (see their website for more information and even entering 5km & 10km races.

The sense of achievement, an expanding circle of friends and the improved health I experienced became a cornerstone for helping me through the year. The routine of running Parkrun every Saturday morning helps me through the winter months.

Please do not be put off by the word “run”. Parkrun is for all abilities and ages. You can walk, jog or run the course to suit you. Many Parkruns have trained guides for the visually impaired. I have entered my first ever cross country events and also plan on running in the Hastings Half Marathon later this year.

This cheap hobby has been invaluable to me. I have met some inspiring people, been supported and encouraged by strangers and friends and my health, both physical and mental, has improved.

If you would like to know more please contact me through Deirdre. I am happy to talk to anyone about entering the world of running to discover a different kind of freedom.”

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Tips from an EBS member

Gordon has written a short article about a number of things he has found helpful since losing his sight and becoming a little more disabled. You may, or may not, know about some of these…

Sock Puller

I have great difficulty in putting on my socks. Proctors Health Care can supply a little aid that I have found to be a life changer.

Liquid Level Indicator

This is a simple device that will bleep and vibrate to let you know when you have filled up a cup or glass.

Mouse Magnifier

This looks like a computer mouse and plugs into your TV. It is used to magnify text, etc. which is displayed on the TV screen.

Illuminated Hand - held Magnifier

These come in various strengths of magnification and are different sizes and shapes.

Desktop Magnifiers

These are devices such as the Humanware Prodigy and Optelec Clearview. Desktop magnifiers have their own screen and use a digital camera to display the text. Some of these devices are also able to read text aloud.

Pens

An always useful item. Bold, black markers can be purchased from Mark at the Centre or are available at the Friends shop in Eastbourne Hospital.

Coin Holder

These plastic cards help to identify certain coins.

Many of the items that Gordon has mentioned above, along with a number of other pieces of equipment, are available to view in the EBS Resource Room and are discussed and demonstrated during our training Modules.

We also have a number of second-hand items for sale at a lower price than brand new pieces. Please call the Centre and/or make an appointment to see Mark if you would like to know any more.

Many thanks to Martin and Gordon for their articles and for sharing with us what helps them.

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Contacting the Centre

Telephone calls to the centre can only be answered during opening hours so please don’t ring out of those hours or you will be disappointed.

EBS phone number is

01323 729511

Email is

A reminder of our opening hours.

Monday

Tuesday Thursday

Friday Wednesday

Saturday Sunday

and Bank Holidays

9.00 to 4.00

9.00 to 1.00

Closed

To be sure of seeing Mark in the Resource Room, please contact the Centre to make an appointment.

Disclaimer

Any items mentioned in this newsletter are for information purposes and their inclusion does not imply their suitability for anyone.

Edited by Deirdre Dean and Mark Simmons