Greater London Fund for the Blind
Improving the lives of blind people

Employment and Training

Losing your job as well as your sight can be doubly devastating. Yet for many people this is the horrible reality, with many blind or partially sighted people being discriminated against and forced out of their workplace.

This can cause many other secondary issues: loss of confidence, isolation and lower self-esteem.

We believe this is wrong and your donations help our members to fight back against the nearly 70% unemployment rate amongst the visually impaired. Alex’s story is typical:

Alex loves working at ClarityAlex was made redundant from his old job in 2005 when he started to lose his eye sight. He is a passionate advocate for Clarity and believes it is fundamentally wrong that blind people suffer such blatant discrimination from employers.

Alex still feels bitter about the way he was unfairly treated by his former employers. He was the only person not re-employed when everyone in his department had to re-apply for their jobs.

He eventually won an out of court settlement for the way he was treated and says the experience made him stronger and gave him more determination to improve himself and to get further qualifications and prove them wrong.

Since working at Clarity Alex has renewed confidence and belief. He has learnt new skills and goes to university to continue his studies. His ultimate dream is to become a teacher, but he says this wouldn’t have been possible without Clarity’s help:

“I am back on my feet thanks to Clarity. Long live Clarity.”

In 2010 your donations have funded a new scheme (run by Clarity) to help people find mainstream employment.

This modular course has already had a number of students attend and they are already reaping the benefits and feeling more confident about finding work in the future and regaining their independence.

Working on the Clarity production line