Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT 2021-22

Welcome to our Annual Report for 2021-22. It was another unpredictable year for service delivery due to the ‘stop-start’ nature of Covid pandemic restrictions. We continued to follow our Covid risk framework that had kept our staff, volunteers and service users safe, and over the year, we did have many more opportunities for delivering face-to-face work. For example, we were able to run ten out of the twelve planned information days around the county, and some 471 people attended.

We moved into our new Head Office in Derby in August 2021 initially on a lease basis but with the sale going through in December 2021. The office is a great improvement on previous leased properties and provides a modern work environment, alongside a ground floor, accessible community room. Owning the property also provides an additional level of stability for the charity.

Whilst this report is mainly a reflection of our work in 2021/22, it is important to recognise that moving forward we face a number of new challenges; not least the current cost of living crisis that effects everyone – our staff, volunteers and of course our service users. Inevitably, our service commissioners will face difficult decisions about spending and we will need to find new and creative ways of planning, funding and delivering our work, ensuring that our services to visually impaired people in Derbyshire continue.

This report gives a flavour of our work over the past year. We hope you enjoy reading about our achievements.