Member annual survey

Listening to you

This year, our CEO Adrian Bell asked a company to survey as many Members as possible to establish what is most important to them and help shape the transformation work the charity is undertaking. This survey was available to all and almost 1,100 Members responded.

Thank you to all who completed the survey. This group, about one third of all Members, were asked 15 questions.

These questions were developed by the Members who attended our Member conference held earlier this year.

What did you say?

The importance of practical support

The survey shows that support services providing practical support are highly valued by Members with things like visual impairment aids and other equipment deemed really important. Over 90% of all the different types of Member groups surveyed rated this as important to them.

Additionally, support by phone was consistently rated as an important aspect of the service provided to members with over 84% of all the groups saying this was important to them.

Training, particularly training to live well with sight loss, was also seen as crucial. An average of 77% of Members said that this was important to them but this goes up to 94% with the group of Members who are living and working with sight loss.

Things like online support and military related events were considered less important by the majority of respondents, particularly among those Members who lost their sight later in life.

Early support

The survey also asked all respondents to remember their time as a new Member and the early support received.

It shows that this early support provided by Blind Veterans UK plays a pivotal role in Members’ adaptation to sight loss. The most important part of this early support were induction weeks which were rated as important by 85% of the Members.

Rehabilitation support and support for family and carers were also rated as important by a majority of Members.

The last 12 months

As part of the survey, Members were asked to consider the level of contact they've had with our charity, particularly over the last 12 months.

97% of Members have been contacted by someone from the charity in the last 12 months with 85% having been visited at home at least once or twice in that time.

84% of Members surveyed have reached out to us in the last 12 months.

47% of Members surveyed have visited a centre once or more in the last year and 52% have attended social events organised by the charity. However both of these go up in the cohorts who are living and working with sight loss and those that are still active in their community.

Why do Members contact us?

The survey asked Members to think about the reasons for them to get in touch with us.

The two reasons that saw people contacting us most frequently were for general support with 75% of Members contacting us about this and for support with equipment and technology which saw 66% of respondents give that as a reason.

The two areas which saw respondents needing to contact us least were around grants at 8% and housing at just 3%.

Gaining a certificate of visual impairment (CVI)

A topic that was discussed at the Member conference was how many of our Members have a CVI and how difficult the process for getting one was.

A large number of respondents said it was easy, but there was also a significant proportion of Members saying it was either difficult or very difficult to attain their CVI. Also, a significant portion of respondents indicated that they don't have a CVI.

How do Members become aware of us?

Members were asked how they first became aware of Blind Veterans UK and the top theme that came through was awareness through involvement with other charities social events and volunteers. This group were told about us by other sight loss and veteran organisations or people connected to them.

The next largest group were told about us by healthcare visits or referrals.

What support makes the most difference?

395 respondents highlighted being provided with physical equipment to aid their them as individuals. 238 also talked about the importance of companionship and the charity always being available for them.

Breaks and holidays with the ability to meet other Members was also mentioned by 125 and 97 respondents respectfully.

What do Members value about being a Member?

By far the largest group of those that responded to this question, 597 Members, spoke about valuing the reassurance that support and help is available. The next largest group of 178 Members said that having a sense of belonging and valuable companionship was the thing they found most valuable. Having the opportunity to attend social events and visiting the centres were the next most valuable things mentioned.