Lord Lieutenant visits Rustington

Lady Emma Barnard, the Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex, has visited our new centre in Rustington to find out how we help vision-impaired ex-Service men and women.

On Wednesday 18 September, Lady Emma spent the morning at the Rustington Centre, which was officially opened by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh in June.

Lady Emma was given a tour of the building and learnt about the work we do to rehabilitate and support blind veterans.

During the tour, Centre Manager Lesley Garven introduced the Lord Lieutenant to members of staff and to a group of blind veterans who had gathered in the lounge.

Blind veteran Nancy, who is a resident at the Rustington Centre, was celebrating her 103rd birthday on Wednesday and was delighted to meet Lady Emma. Nancy had wanted to craft some gifts for the Lord Lieutenant and presented her with a seashell necklace and some fingerless gloves. Lady Emma was extremely touched by the gifts and wore the necklace straight away.

During the visit, Nancy was presented with a birthday cake and Lady Emma joined in as everyone sang ‘Happy Birthday’.

Lady Emma was also introduced to blind veterans Mariam and Stuart who began being supported by our charity earlier this year and were at the centre for an induction week. Mariam and Stuart spoke of the support they have already received and how important the charity has been to them so far.

Centre Manager Lesley Garven said:

“It was an honour to welcome Lady Emma to our Rustington Centre; we hope it was the first of many visits.

“Lady Emma enjoyed hearing about our charity’s history as well as our future work and the connections we hope to make in our new home in West Sussex.”