Jackie Dunbar visits north-east Scottish sensory loss charity to learn about its life-changing work
North East Sensory Services logo
Jackie Dunbar has visited the headquarters of a north-east Scottish charity to learn about its life-changing work helping people with sensory loss.
The MSP for Aberdeen Donside toured the headquarters of North East Sensory Services (NESS) in Aberdeen, meeting staff and people who benefit from the extensive services it provides. During her visit, she explored the charity’s resource centre and heard first-hand about the challenges facing blind and deaf people in her constituency and beyond. She also held a meeting with NESS’s interim chief executive Alan Bell, who briefed her on the charity’s impact, as well as speaking to other key members of staff.
Left to right: Alan Bell, NESS added value services manager Sheila Ogden, Jackie Dunbar MSP, NESS training and information officer Libby Hillhouse standing beside a NESS banner.
NESS supports thousands of blind and deaf people, and those with visual and hearing impairments, across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Angus and Moray. The charity’s main objective is to help people with sensory loss live as independently as possible, helping them overcome the many challenges they face. Among its lifeline services are access to information and support from within Aberdeen Royal Infirmary’s Eye Clinic at the point of diagnosis, social inclusion groups for adults, including the elderly, and a Young People’s Sensory Service for children.
NESS is the sector leader in Scotland for delivering joint sensory services, which is of particular benefit to elderly people who often encounter age-related sight and hearing issues at the same time. Founded in 1879, it is the second-oldest charity in Aberdeen and supports more than 6,250 people with sensory impairment and their families across the north-east.
The charity has no ‘cut off’ point for access to its support, with staff working with people of all ages. It provides a range of specialist support services and manages the sight loss registers in Aberdeen, Moray and Dundee.
Jackie Dunbar MSP“NESS does a power of work to support folk right across the north-east, including hundreds of my constituents. I’ve been told so much about what NESS does, so it was great to get along, meet folk in person, and to learn a bit more about the organisation and the people that it supports. For nearly a century and a half, NESS has supported Aberdonians with hearing and sight loss, and I hope to be able to support them as they continue to build on that legacy.”
Alan Bell, interim chief executive at NESS“Engaging with our local elected representatives is always a pleasure, and we were delighted to welcome Jackie to our HQ in Aberdeen to give her a sense of what we do. She was able to learn more about the challenges people with sight and hearing loss face, before speaking directly to some of the people who benefit from our services every day."
“Many of our staff and volunteers live locally and are her constituents, so it was great for them to meet their MSP and tell her about their life-changing work. Our resource centre is a crucial source of information and advice for the people we serve, but it is also a warm and friendly place where new friendships are formed.”
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