The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) is delighted to announce that it has been awarded almost £40,000 in National Lottery funding to support its work with young, blind and visually impaired (VI) students.
Funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, will help cover some of the costs incurred in implementing
tight infection control and adapting the College curriculum.
Staff at the College have worked extremely hard to ensure the safety of the College community at its campus in Venns Lane, Hereford, but had no budget for the extra staffing, increased requirement for technology or, the all important, PPE.
The estimated impact of covid19 on the RNC so far is over £250,000 and counting, at a time when the charity’s ability to fundraise from events and other activities has been severely curtailed. So the funding award could not have come at a better time.
‘As a registered charity, we are very grateful to the Lottery and the Government for this grant which is very much needed at this time,’ says Executive Principal, Lucy Proctor. ‘Since the pandemic broke, our staff and management have worked tirelessly to make sure our visually impaired students are as safe as possible and can maintain their studies without disruption. This was done remotely during the first lockdown and now the students are back on campus, it is happening in socially distanced bubbles. But the costs associated with these logistics are high and unbudgeted – with PPE, IT and extra staffing bills – and this grant will help towards these.’
Since the start of the new academic year, all RNC students have been back on campus, divided into three household bubbles who live, eat and study together and this new funding, raised by National Lottery players for good causes, will ensure that RNC can continue to give its students the best possible study experience to allow them to go on to live successful, independent lives
NEWS | The Royal National College for the Blind Secures Funding from the National Lottery Community Fund for Covid 19 Assistance
