Big thanks to The Wyke Smugglers for putting on a pub quiz for us last week, and our amazing member Katherine for making it all happen in the first place. A sterling £216 was made on the night and everyone certainly seemed to enjoy themselves – after all, who doesn’t enjoy a good pub quiz?!
We’re always keen to support fundraising events like this in the community so if you like a quiz, enjoy an ale or throwback Dubonnet and lemonade, and would like your local pub to get behind supporting Dorset Blind Association, you know what to do!
We can get behind you from the off and provide all the bits and pieces, or indeed you can just get on with it and give us a nice surprise with your efforts – it’s all hugely appreciated.
Contact Gareth, our Community & Corporate Fundraiser, on 01202 712864 or email him and he will be only too happy to hear your ideas.
Yesterday saw the official grand unveiling of our Southbourne shop at 99 Southbourne Grove so out came the camera (and the tour de force of Dorset Blind Association branded shirts, naturally). Our Chair of Trustees, Maria Grundmann, kindly cut the ribbon on the day and we celebrated with a little cake sale in the shop.
At the time of writing, we currently have three shops – Ferndown, Christchurch and Southbourne – and are in the process of setting up our FOURTH right here at our Parkstone HQ so watch this space for more exciting news!
Thousands visited Lulworth Castle last weekend to support our annual Motor Show which took place on Sunday 12th May. This hugely successful and well attended event showcased over 180 cars in the motor display and welcomed over 3,000 general public visitors, raising an incredible £8,285.70!
This prestigious event, now in its fifth year was held within the picturesque Lulworth Estate courtesy of James Weld DL.
The event set motorists out on a 20 mile tour around the Dorset countryside, following in convoy, before returning to Lulworth to display their beautiful motors at the Castle Showground. The event saw thousands of local supporters, holiday makers and car enthusiasts descend on the Castle throughout the day, creating an incredible community buzz.
The Lulworth Castle Motor Show was open to the public free of charge and had something for all ages to enjoy; a range of local stalls selling handmade goods and local produce, entertainment from the Gugge Band, a kids area with bouncy castle, face painting and an exclusive visit from the ever popular Peppa Pig!
Attendees enjoyed relaxing in the afternoon sun with refreshments from The Fizz Tin, Hitch n Hop, The Heavenly Crepe, The Falafel Den and Dorset Catering Services, who also supplied the refreshments before the Dorset Tour to the car owners.
Jan Jones, event attendee and owner of The Fizz Tin, said, ‘What a perfect day! We felt so lucky to be involved once again with this magnificent car show. An excellent turnout! The visitors seemed to love the new food and refreshment area too, enhanced by the beautiful weather and backdrop of Lulworth Castle. Incredibly well organised, with the friendliest charity staff and volunteers! Congratulations on a wonderful event for the most worthwhile of causes.’
Check out our Facebook page for more photos from the event!
On Friday 3rd May seven local teams including; The Elstead Hotel, Nationwide, Bourne Space, Laceys Solicitors, Christchurch Rowing Club and Poole Amateur Rowing Club went head to head to row 10,000m in the quickest time all to raise money to support visually impaired people across Dorset!
The virtual rowing challenge that took place in Bournemouth Square, raised just under £1000, as well as vital awareness of the charities work. The challenge event held in Bournemouth town centre, caused a real buzz from the teams competing. This year Christchurch Rowing Club and Poole Amateur Rowing Club went head to head in their challenge, with Poole Amatuer Rowing Club coming out on the top with an impressive time of just 33:32, narrowly beating Christchurch Rowing Club with a time of 34:58.
David Younger from Nationwide in Bournemouth, said The Big Row is ‘A great way to raise awareness and funds for a truly worthy cause, engaging local businesses whilst creating a fun and competitive environment.‘
Check out the photos from the day here.
Our first ever Bright for Sight Night Run in Weymouth took place on Saturday 13th April along Weymouth Seafront, sponsored by Friths Opticians. 65 runners took on the 5k or 10k challenge, successfully raising just over £1300!
The event was kick started with a Zumba warm up by local instructor Lou Sams, getting the runners raring to go before setting off on their run. The popular ‘Bright for Sight’ theme saw participants don their neon clothing, glow sticks, glow paint, fabulous tutus and colourful fairy lights, lighting up the seafront as they ran. At the finish line, all participants received a bright for sight medal, certificate and a goody bag; with thanks to: Friths Opticians, Asda Weymouth, The Stable Weymouth, 3d Health and Fitness Wey Valley and Zumba Heat Lou Sams for their generous donations.
We hope you all will join us again for our next Bright for Sight Night Run in Boscombe on Saturday 14th September!
Check out the photos here.
We are ecstatic to receive the Small Charity Award from the Big Give Christmas Challenge Awards 2018! The awards recognise the best performing charities that take part in the UK’s biggest online match funding campaign each year.
We were eligible for the award by exceeding out fundraising target by almost £3000! The criteria for the award included; creative marketing, supporter engagement and by how much we exceeded out fundraising target. The judging panel headed by the Founder of The Big Give, Sir Alec Reed CBE said:
‘This year we had a number of high quality applications from charities tackling some of the biggest challenges in our society and our planet. The winning charities should be very proud of the impact their hard work and creativity has achieved. These case studies are excellent examples of good practice and I would urge charities participating in future Big Give campaigns to read through them. As with previous years, The Reed Foundation is pleased to award additional funds to all of the Christmas Challenge Award winners to support their important work.’
We are delighted to be recognised for our hard work during the campaign and be awarded the additional £1000 bonus from the Big Give!
Take a look at our case study here.
Check out our campaign video:
Check out our March community news and exciting events in our March E-Newsletter!
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Our Dining in The Dark event, held at Escoffier Restaurant and Coastline Brassiere on Thursday 21st March was a hugely successful evening, raising nearly £2000! The successful event was run in association with Bournemouth and Poole College.
Our 42 guests were welcomed to a dimly lit room, to approximate something similar to what it is like to live with a visual impairment, with the added option of being completely blindfolded throughout their meal: effectively to simulate blindness.
The catering students at the college cooked a surprise six-course meal, with the onus on the diners to try and discern what it was they were eating using their sense of taste, smell and touch. We were also lucky enough to be joined by the BBC’s Sarah Farmer, who interviewed some of our guests and also tried out the dining experience for herself, for a piece on the following day’s South Today. Watch the video here:
We would like to thank all of our guests, the fantastic staff and the amazing students at Escoffier who made the night such a huge success!
Click here to see the photographs from the night!
