New north recruit to Scottish War Blinded's outreach team as charity works to support self-isolating veterans with sight loss
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A PRACTICE lead for northern Scotland has joined Scottish War Blinded as the charity fights to keep up the spirits of veterans with sight loss isolated at home in the coronavirus outbreak.
The new addition to Scottish War Blinded’s outreach management team responds to the ever-growing number of veterans with sight loss the charity has been supporting across the north of Scotland.
Jenny Liddell, who has 16 years experience of working in sensory services, has had to hit the ground running in her new role in these most testing of times.
She said: “Throughout this pandemic, we are staying in contact with each individual via telephone and email. Everyone we support has had a call to ensure they know they can get in touch with us to get help.
“We’ve pulled together a list of those who are at high risk and in the shielding group and those who are living alone and most vulnerable – they are getting frequent calls. We’re drawing up a really comprehensive resource for our staff that details all local and national support groups, so if anything changes for anyone we can quickly help them access help in their area.
“We are still referring veterans to Scottish War Blinded’s rehabilitation team, who are conducting telephone assessments for equipment such as magnifiers and kitchen aids which we can post out to them, as well as providing expert advice to help people maintain their independence at home."
She continued: “We’re doing all we can to keep our veterans smiling.
“One of our outreach workers came up with our "Non-pub Quiz where each has a team of six veterans – they’ll call them up each week with two questions. Another outreach worker has been looking at the remaining football fixtures and discussing with one gentleman over the phone what each result would be each week.
“Wherever our veterans are based, we are dedicated to providing the highest levels of support at all times.
"When the country comes through these extremely challenging times, I look forward to finally meeting Scottish War Blinded veterans in person – as well as my new outreach colleagues – and developing even more new partnerships for the charity in northern Scotland.
Scottish War Blinded gives free support to former servicemen and women of all ages, no matter if they lost their sight during or after service, including National Service. For more information about the support offered to veterans with sight loss call 0800 035 6409 or get in touch online at www.scottishwarblinded.org.
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