Disability Insurer Unum raises £40,000 for SeeAbility
Howard Lake | 18 September 2008 | News
Teams of employees of leading disability insurer Unum have raised an anticipated £40,000 for the charity SeeAbility.
They completed “Le Jo’g”, a thousand mile relay run from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise funds for a unique sight-saving project which helps people with a learning disability.
SeeAbility, formerly known as The Royal School for the Blind, provide a wide range of services for people with a visual impairment and additional disabilities. Their award-winning eye 2 eye Campaign is one of several projects which SeeAbility have developed to help people with a learning disability access appropriate sight tests and low vision support. The campaign was launched after SeeAbility’s research revealed that a third of all people with a learning disability will have a significant impairment of vision and yet regular and effective sight tests for these individuals are rare. Tragically, there are many people with a learning disability who have poor eye health and in some cases, preventable blindness.
A team of SeeAbility employees joined the Unum runners to complete the last 70 mile leg from Lostwithiel to Land’s End on Saturday September 13th. 23 teams from Unum had already completed the distance from John O’Groats.
Jayne McGann, Fundraising and Marketing Director said “This is a fantastic achievement and we are enormously grateful to Unum for their continued support. The proceeds of Le Jo’g will significantly increase the number of people we will be able to help with our eye 2 eye Campaign.”
The success of SeeAbility’s eye 2 eye Campaign has led to more projects being launched throughout the UK.
For more information visit www.seeability.org
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Issued by SeeAbility, for further information please contact:
Monica Cornforth on 020 8997 1261 or 07811 147 192
NOTES TO EDITORS
• SeeAbility is the operating name for The Royal School for the Blind, a national charity which has for over 200 years provided support for people who are blind or partially sighted and have additional disabilities.
• SeeAbility offers a wide range of quality residential and community services for people with a visual impairment and additional disabilities. Our aim is to provide each individual with the support they need to develop essential life skills for greater independence and fulfilling life.
• SeeAbility’s eye 2 eye Campaign, a community-based initiative, is improving eye care and vision for people with a learning disability through access to information, specially-adapted sight tests and low-vision support.
• SeeAbility currently operates a range of services in London, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, East Sussex, Hampshire, Devon, Somerset, Surrey and West Sussex.
• SeeAbility’s Head Office is based in Epsom, Surrey and for further information call 01372 755000 or go to
www.seeability.org
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.