Surrey deaf and blind communities are struggling with loneliness - says local charity
Sight For Surrey support 8000 people in the area with hearing and sight-related disabilities and conditions
There are worries that Surrey and East Hampshire's deaf and blind communities are struggling with loneliness - and locals are being asked to help.
This concern is coming from local charity Sensory Services by Sight For Surrey - an inclusive organisation dedicated to enabling and empowering people who are Deaf, hard of hearing, blind, partially sighted and deafblind.
They currently support around 8000 people in our area.
Vivienne Salter from the charity tells us:
"One of their major struggles is being socially isolated and not being able to get out and enjoy those social interactions that everybody deserves to enjoy.
"A lot of people that we support, as with across the world, that had a massive increase in that social isolation due to lockdowns.
"Our phone befriending service was born from then - it is still growing and there is that real demand for being able to make a phone call and that being the difference in somebody's day.
"We do get amazing feedback from our service users as well as our volunteers."
Sensory Services by Sight For Surrey are on the look out for volunteers - you can find more information here.