Official Opening of new HAS Centre

Posted on 23rd Nov

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The Mayor and Mayoress cut the ribbon

Councillor Brian Vincent, Lord Mayor of Plymouth said “By moving to Ernest English House and now effectively based in the City Centre, the Hearing and Sight Centre will provide better access for those who come by public transport as it is a stone’s throw away from the main thoroughfare, Royal Parade, and the Bus Station. There is disabled parking outside and plenty of metered parking in the vicinity.”
He Also told the invited guests, “Thousands of Plymouth residents have already used the service in the last 17 years and the way is now open and accessible for many more in the future……….”, then he and the Lady Mayoress cut the ribbon, declaring the new Hearing and Sight Centre Officially Open.

Judy Leverton, Vice-Chair of the Guild reminded everyone of the development and growth of the service provided by Plymouth Guild. The “Sight Centre” opened its doors on 1st April 1991 based in a first floor flat at the Pocklington Rise Home for Blind People in Plympton.
The first two years were spent establishing the service and it soon became
clear that a considerable number of visitors could benefit from some additional support with their hearing. The Sight Centre then became the Hearing and Sight Centre, and moved to Pounds House in Peverell on 1st April 1993. In April this year the service moved to the Guilds Ernest English House Premises.

This new beginning has brought back some old memories for Maggie Paine, Guild Assistant Director and for many years was the HAS Co-ordinator. She can still remember the slippery wooden staircase which came up from the car park to the front door of the original premises. A local boat firm gave her free non slip decking materials to cover the stairs. There was a hinged hand rail beside the pathway that allowed staff and volunteers to bypass the staircase and push people using wheelchairs across the steep lawns and into the Centre. This was the only way they could offer disabled access but once you had scaled the heights and were inside the building, the Centre was as welcoming then as it is today.

The service was very busy over the years that followed, providing
services to meet ever changing needs in the City. HAS annual Plymouth exhibitions in the Guildhall were attended by people from all over the West Country and brought exhibitors and equipment to the City which had never been seen before.
A number of “firsts” were achieved by the Centre: 

•  It was the first Resource Centre in the country to display and demonstrate the Eezee Reader, the first reasonably priced reading machine for Visually Impaired people. 
•  It was the first Resource Centre in the UK to provide a combined service for Sight and Hearing. 
•  It was the first Resource Centre in the UK to provide a combined service to profoundly Deaf People and the staff use British Sign Language on a regular basis.
  

However, HAS is not resting on past success, with the support of the 5 members of staff and 18 volunteers, it continues to strive to give as good a service as possible. The latest “first” is the new INSIGHT Course for newly registered Visually Impaired people, providing them with the tools to come to terms with their reduced vision, find their way through the system and maintain their independence.
In 2009 there will be workshops, and an annual exhibition again along with events which will raise the profile of sensory impairment within the City. This will also be with the support of a Trainee Events Co-ordinator provided by the RNIB, thanks to Gill Cowsill, RNIB Transcription Service.