Welcome to this edition of our supporters update where in thanking you for your help, we report back to you how we have spent your money and let you know of further ways in which you can support Galloway's.

Humble Beginnings

As you may know Galloway's Society for the Blind, or the Preston Industrial Institute for the Blind as it was then, grew out of a public meeting held in 1867 in Preston's Corn Exchange. (Now the Exchange Public House) At the time the organisation was the towns most popular cause with Preston's 'well to do' wanting to be associated with its success. As an example, in 1887 over £3000 was raised during an event to celebrate Queen Victoria's Jubilee. Whilst we'd be pleased to receive such a sum now, we cannot begin to guess at its equivalent value today.

However, whilst Galloway's may not be one of the more popular causes 140years later, a fact remains that today we support many more blind and visually impaired people than at any other time in our history. This is only made possible due to your help and for that, we remain extremely grateful. Please remember to count Galloway's as one of your favourite causes.

Equipment Fund tops £100,000

The amount of equipment provided by on loan to blind and visually impaired people by Galloway's has now passed £100,000. The Society has provided Perkins Braillers and Radios for many years but in the recent past started adding TV Readers to the list. To date over 500 people have benefited from the scheme and we remain very grateful to local clubs and organisations who continue to support us by sponsoring the £300 costs of such equipment. For each £300 we are able to provide an Easy Reader to another person on our waiting list like Mrs Thoms from Chorley who for the first time was able to see photographs of her grandchildren who live in Australia. Now can you put a price on that?

Stop Press - Thank you to the D'Oyly Carte Trust for meeting the cost of 10 Machines with a grant of over £3000.

Don't forget to increase your donation with Gift Aid

We are always grateful to receive donations but like many Charities find that only a small proportion of our income from individuals is given under Gift Aid. The system has been operating for several years now and is very simple to operate; increasing the value of a donation by 28 pence in every pound, providing the giver pays basic rate tax.

Tax rates change April 08 resulting in Gift Aid being worth 25 pence in the pound, we therefore need to increase the number of Gift Aid donations to maintain our income.

Regular Gifts

One of our aims over the next few years is to increase the number of people giving to Galloway's regularly by standing order. Unlike some Charities who stop you in the street and get to sign up for a monthly direct debit, Galloway's prefers a less aggressive approach hoping that a gentle appeal may be more acceptable to our supporters. We have designed a form which we can send to you for completion, once you've done this return it to us and we'll send it to your bank. We are aiming to find 50 direct givers over the next year (less than one a week) - will you be one of them?

You don't need to give money now!

Well you don't hear many Charities saying that, but here at Galloway's we really mean it, but it's really a way to get you to read about how important income from Legacies is to Galloway's. Throughout our history, whilst we've managed to keep our head above water and meet our day to day running costs, we've relied on Legacies to meet items of large expenditure or development. The prime example being the gift of Howick House by William Wilding Galloway we were so grateful, we even named the Charity after him! However, it's not always the big things, one of our tape copiers in the studio was funded by a gift in memory of Leah Marquis. Mrs Harriet Walker provided funds to purchase our bungalows on Howick Park Avenue and recently Dorothy Hedley a long time friend and supporter of Galloway's left us £10,000 towards the replacement of our minibus. So you don't need to give money now – just remember to mention Galloway's in your Will – future generations of blind people will be glad you did.

The Society has a number of Solicitors who want to help Galloway's by writing Wills Free of Charge. The service is completely confidential and you don't even need to leave a Legacy to Galloway's - that's the risk we take. For more information contact Peter Taylor on 01772 753700 in complete confidence.

Thank you to our Collectors

You cannot go into Town or to a Supermarket these days without someone collecting for Charity and we're very grateful, as often it's Galloway's they're collecting for! Last year our small band of collectors raised over £75,000 through Street and Store collections. It's hard on the feet and sometimes cold but it meets the annual cost of running all our 11 weekly social and support groups across Lancashire. So if you see one of our Collectors give them a pat on the back. (As well as some cash)

We'd have nothing for our collectors to do if it wasn't for the various Stores and Local Authorities who recognise the valuable work of Galloway's and allow us to hold collections in their Stores. Thank you to them for helping us in this way.

New Name – same old faces

We've decided to change the name of our Resource Centres in order to more accurately portray the service provided, in future they will be known as Sight Advice Centres. We found people had no idea what a ‘Resource Centre' was and most people referred to the equipment service as the Shop. We never liked the term shop as it implies we make money - the cost of all the equipment supplied by Galloway's to blind and visually impaired people is subsidised.

Telling people that Galloway's has 'Sight Advice Centres' in Chorley, Preston and Morecambe is far more informative and gives a better understanding of this important part of our work. Last year over 5000 visits were made to our ‘Sight Advice Centres' with subsidised sales totalling £36,000. This shows that most sales were of fairly small value underlining our belief that it's often the simple items that provide most benefit.

Minibus Appeal exceeds its target

Galloway's three minibuses can be seen around the district each day transporting people to and from various events and activities. Whilst they don't achieve over high mileage the fact that they are constantly stopping and starting, negotiating congested streets across the County does take its toll so with two of them being over 10 years old we launched an appeal to replace one and hopefully two. It was encouraging to note how many people who benefited from using the vehicles held fundraising events towards the appeal, Sponsored Cycle Rides, Walks, Collections and Concerts. The appeal then received a substantial donation from an individual in Morecambe in memory of his late wife, resulting in us not only being able to replace two, but three!

Ebay for Galloway's

If you use the Ebay website to dispose of unwanted goods you can choose to give a percentage of what you sell to Galloway's. Statistics show that items with a charity donation get more ‘hits' so whilst not only benefiting Galloway's you may get a better price for your item.

Whilst on the subject of things Computer related, Galloway's has teamed up with search engine ‘Everyclick' By setting Everyclick as your Homepage or just using it when searching, you can benefit Galloway's at no cost to you. Eleven people have raised over £70 in just a few months - think what we could do if all our supporters signed up. Please visit www.everyclick.com to register.

Please keep in touch

With Sight Advice Centres at Morecambe, Preston and Chorley and with local groups supporting blind and visually impaired people in a dozen towns and villages across the County, Galloway's is your local Charity.

You can keep in touch with us in so many ways through visiting our website
www.galloways.org.uk
or contacting us at our various offices.

91 Balmoral Road Morecambe LA3 1SS
Telephone: 01524 414846
gallowaysmorecambe@tiscali.co.uk

8 Crown Street, Chorley PR7 1DX
Telephone: 01257 275160
gallowayschorley@tiscali.co.uk

Howick House, Penwortham, Preston PR1 0LS
Telephone: 01772 744148
enquiries@galloways.org.uk