Sight charity Beacon Centre marks £150k lottery milestone

The funding for Beacon Centre for the Blind has gone on to help people in the Black Country with sight-loss and conditions over the passed decade.

Vikki Millichamp, communications and fundraising manager, said: "We are incredibly grateful that thanks to the generous support from our local community."

The Beacon Centre is located in Sedgley and provides support and advice to visually impaired people living across the Black Country.

In the Black Country alone, there are over 36,000 people living with sight loss and this figure is set to double to some 72,000 by 2050.

Cash from the lottery, called the Goalden Gate Superdraw, sees people pay £1 per week. The money goes to the charity and players can cash prizes.

Vikki said: “The Goalden Gate Superdraw is a fantastic way to support our charity while being in with a chance of winning one of 60 cash prizes every week.

"Players pay £1 per week and are allocated 10 numbers, so for every £1 people spend, they have 10 chances of winning. Each week one lucky player wins the top prize of £1,000."

Beacon provides advice and support to visually impaired people of all ages. The charity helps people back into employment; provides social, sporting and educational activities in its day centres in Sedgley and Stourbridge; and offers advice and guidance on aids and technologies available to help people in their homes and at work.

It runs a variety of fundraising measures to generate cash, which is important as the charity had £250,000 of its funding cut from Dudley Council 2016.

Last year Beacon auctioned off film posters which helped boost funding.

The charity also receives money raised from the JW Hunt Cup, which sees grass-roots team around the Midlands complete for the silverware.

This year was the 91st time the cup was held and Alvechurch edged out Wednesfield at Molineux.

The cup raised £10,000 with representatives handing the charity a cheque. Over 91 years the cup has raised more than £330,000 for the charity.

For more information on how to join the draw, call Beacon on 01902 880 111 or visit beaconvision.org