SUPPORT from the Lottery Community Fund is enabling York charity MySight to work with organisations to help them make it easier for people living with sight loss to access and enjoy their services.

One of the first organisations to benefit is the National Trust, Treasurer’s House.

Treasurer's House in York, North Yorkshire is a Grade I listed historic house owned by the National Trust who also maintain its garden. It is home to an amazing collection of furniture and artefacts, bought from around the world by wealthy industrialist Frank Green.

MySight York Community Engagement Officer Sally Chignell and Guy Newton, Conservation Assistant recently held two workshops for members from MySight York to visit the Treasurer’s House using the National Trust touch tour in different formats to examine the articles on show.

The MySight York members went around the property using the existing touch tour documentation and gave their feedback on layout and accessibility. The touch tour was then reconfigured by the National Trust and the second group of MySight York members were invited to use the new document and give their feedback.

Caroline Robertson MySight York Training and Engagement Manager recently led a sight loss awareness training session for staff and volunteers.

She said: “One of our aims is to make York more accessible to people living with sight loss by working with a range of local organisations to offer training, advice and guidance that will help them make their services easier to access.”

“Thanks to the Lottery Community Fund, we can provide our sight loss awareness training free of charge to staff and volunteers at organisations in the healthcare, hospitality, retail, sport and leisure sectors. The National Trust Treasurer’s House is one of the first to benefit, and we want to roll it out to as many other organisations in the local area as possible.