Galloway's Society for the Blind - Preston

dunc

Not good. Whoever designs things for partially sighted people like phones and things do do a good job in my opinion. They're just not practical. They need to do better

Peter B.

Several meeting rooms available for hire and great resource centre and support groups for the visually impaired

Karen H.

Lovely bit premises boarded by countryside at the end of a quiet residential area. Great security and safety standards. We attend for counselling sessions and is nice quiet conducive surrounds for such

Antony A.

This review is about the Morecambe Centre:

Positives:
• Grant application – availability / process.
• Support received with this – Some staff.
• Tech training (on Site).
• General sight loss advice.

Negative / Constructive comments:

• No Reception area – to go to when you arrive.
• No ‘meet and greet’ from staff – appointments. Service
Users shouldn’t have to ask Café Staff for help / directions
and to alert staff, once you have arrived for an appointment
– staff should be there to meet you. NO offer of drinks.
• Slightly chaotic and disorganised environment – Personally, I
found this very unnerving / disorientating when coming into
the building, with lots of people walking/ rushing around,
particularly as a new Service User with severe sight loss who
does not know the building / layout etc;
• Left on my own - staff wander off to help other Service
Users - very irritating!
• No home visit training options / availability.
• Some communication issues (some staff).
• Promises by some staff, not kept - another let down.
• Limited availability of Visual Aids - having to pay for some
aids.
• Some aspects of Services need to be reviewed and improved
for a better experience for Service Users.

On balance, I would NOT recommend Galloways (Morecambe office at least) to any family or friends with sight loss, because of all the off putting issues I experienced personally and listed above.

Thank you.

Karen G.

Came here for a Gift Aid course. Very easy to find, well signposted. Ample parking, reception desk just inside the door, plenty clean toilet facilities, stocked kitchen area, lovely lunch. Room was very comfortable, setup well for the course. Great place to hold a meeting etc

Andy D.

Nice old building catering for - but not exclusively - the blind. Visited Specsavers pop up shop for an audiology appointment. Nice clean environment in well kept grounds.

Lawrence A. D.

I am Mr Armatage's PA / Sighted Guide.

I attended Galloways in Morecambe with Antony on 2 separate occasions. I can vouch for everything Antony has said in his own Review and what he / we experienced, when attending this Centre.

Personally and overall, I found the whole experiences very disappointing and disconcerting. Antony felt even worse as a severely sight. impaired (blind) person, accessing a Service where you expect to receive appropriate support and on time (left waiting / standing around in a chaotic environment for staff to turn up).

Just one other thing to add - the toilets in the building are filthy and disgusting - without a doubt, a health and safety risks for service users. Get them cleaned!

Again, I think there needs to be a serious review and major improvements that need to be made to the Centre / Services offered, to improve the experiences for ALL service users.

We are now accessing other Sight Advice Centres who are more flexible, organised and professional (in our view). Also, who offer tech support at home - for individuals like Antony, who cannot access the Community independently.

One final note for all Galloways Morecambe staff, GET YOUR ACT TGETHER! You owe this to ALL Service Users.

Thank you.

Suzanne H.

Met a friend for a coffee. It has a feel of a community cafe. It is clean and spacious.
The service from the 2 lads serving coffee was friendly and fantastic, they "brought the sunshine".