‘Support can be life-changing’: behind the scenes at Preston’s 150-year-old sight-loss charity Galloway’s

Aiming to engineer a world in which every visually-impaired person is empowered to realise their hopes and dreams and fulfil their potential, Galloway’s expert staff keenly understand how frightening and overwhelming losing your sight can be. As a result, they seek to promote greater independence and to minimise the effects of reduced vision.

Galloway’s dedicated team of staff and volunteers are always on-hand to support anyone requiring help, with CEO Iain Pearson recently marking 12 months in-post. “I worked in the voluntary sector before joining Galloway’s,” says Iain. “I knew about the charity because it’s local to Lancashire, because it’s well-established, and because of its good reputation.

“When I saw the CEO job became available, it piqued my interest,” adds Iain, 46, who lives in Leyland. “A year later, here I am. It’s my first CEO job, so it’s been a case of learning on the go, but it’s been really good. I’ve spent a lot of time making sure we’ve got a proper plan moving forwards, but I’ve also really got to understand the world of sight-loss.

“I was new to that, so getting to grips with different eye conditions, meeting the staff with lived experience, and hearing people’s backstories has been a real learning curve,” Iain continues. “The role has also really brought home the challenges charities face nowadays - it’s getting harder to run charities because of the increasing costs of everything we do.

“It puts a real pressure on us at a time when we want to attract and retain staff. Every aspect of operating a charity is becoming more expensive and harder, but that just makes driving income and getting money coming in more crucial. There aren’t many easy decisions and we’re careful about what direction we go in because it’s tough out there.”

Tough as it may be, the impact Galloway’s has is undeniable. In the past year alone, the charity has supported 4,240 people, sent out 16,685 audio publications and newspapers, reached out to 335 new people living with sight loss across the North West, and carried out 227 low-vision assessments both digitally and in person.

From working with families to build people’s skills and confidence to offering advice, training, and a range of activities for visually-people, Galloway’s truly changes lives with its outstanding work, which is something everyone can be tremendously proud of, according to Iain.

“We’re here to help, and that’s fulfilling,” he explains. “The services we offer are absolutely fantastic; the activities and support can be life-changing. I’ve seen that impact so many times, which makes my job easier because you feel grounded and you realise why we’re doing this. It’s all about supporting people who are blind and partially-sighted.

“We have to be dynamic, because there are opportunities out there for us,” Iain adds. “It’s a challenging time, but Galloway’s has to be the master of its own destiny.”

Interested in volunteering with Galloway’s or donating? Head to https://www.galloways.org.uk/how-you-can-help