Oxfordshire Community Foundation Grant Fund – MyVision

At RWK Goodman, we passionately believe in supporting the communities we serve. One of the ways we do this is through our longstanding support for local Community Foundations, who rely on donations from businesses and individuals to help improve local communities by providing grants to various projects.

Since 2011, we have been working with the Oxfordshire Community Foundation to build a grant fund that supports local communities across Oxfordshire. During 2023, we were privileged to be able to support MyVision Oxfordshire through this fund.

Founded in 1877, MyVision Oxfordshire offers free information and advice to support blind and visually impaired adults and children, helping them achieve independence and confidence.

Our grant fund helped support their Information and Advice Service, which is usually the first point of contact for those contacting the charity. MyVision listens to each individual and their requirements, providing them with the support they need to reach their goals – whether that means simply providing the information they need or recommending one of their other projects, such as the Resource Centre or support groups. Their Resource Centre is fully equipped with daily living aids and adapted equipment, such as magnifiers, talking clocks, and liquid level indicators, allowing those who are blind or visually impaired to live independently by completing day-to-day tasks.

During Covid, many of their visually impaired clients reported feeling lonely and depressed as they were unable to leave their homes or easily communicate with loved ones. At the end of 2021, MyVision received funding from Oxfordshire Community Foundations’ Isolation and Loneliness Funding round. The support from Oxfordshire Community Foundation meant MyVision were able to continue supporting blind and visually impaired people throughout the pandemic and beyond, decreasing that sense of isolation. Since then, they have had further support from Oxfordshire Community Foundation for their work, meaning they can continue to provide services for their local community, such as setting up alternative groups, services, and events.

After accessing the information and advice centre, one service user commented:
“Everything you have provided has opened up a new world for me. You’ve made me feel that I’m capable and have allowed me to do more things, easily and independently.”

Over the next 12 months, MyVision plans to expand their Get Connected project, that supports their clients to get online and access technology, as well as their Community Engagement project, which helps bring services into people’s communities, eliminating the barrier of travel.

“MyVision’s Information and Advice Service underpins everything else that we do, and it is vital that this project continues to be available to visually impaired people in Oxfordshire. Without the Information and Advice Service, we would not have that first point of contact for people, and it would be difficult for them to navigate the different services available to them which could help them achieve their goals. The support from RWK Goodman has provided the project with stability and the knowledge that we will be able to continue providing the service this year, and we are ever so grateful for that.”

Our partnership with the Oxfordshire Community Foundation extends beyond this project and reflects our firm’s values and commitments to supporting our local communities. At RWK Goodman, we are dedicated to fostering positive change and making a tangible difference to the communities we work in, by continuously working with organisations like Oxfordshire Community Foundations, we can continue to demonstrate the positive impact we are making.

“MyVision Oxfordshire provides a well-respected Information and Advice Service for visually impaired people in Oxfordshire. Blindness and visual impairment can severely impact a person’s independence: sight loss-specific support is vital for visually impaired people to live independently. A diagnosis of sight loss, or a worsening of eyesight, is often a time of emotional turbulence, however MyVision Information and Advice Service provides stability, hope, and peace of mind to those who access it by providing a dedicated helpline, resource centre and by signposting relevant external services. We were delighted to support MyVision by jointly funding their grant application.”