During a visit to Birmingham on Tuesday 26 May, HRH The Princess Royal attended a special reception organised by Sense to highlight the needs of older deafblind people.
At the reception, Her Royal Highness met some of the older deafblind people who Sense supports in the Midlands, as well as some of the skilled Sense staff who work with them. The reception was attended by representatives of a number of local authorities, and by companies and charitable trusts which have generously supported Sense's work.
William Sherwood, aged 88, said “My support worker from Sense helps me to attend medical appointments as well as do things that are important to me. For example I go to visit my wife’s grave, which would be very difficult without their support.”
Peter Cheer, Regional Director at Sense, said “It is estimated that there are over 200,000 older deafblind people in the UK, and that their number will grow significantly in the future. The difficulties they experience can be acute: increasing isolation; difficulty in maintaining independence; and often poor health. It is vital that their needs should be recognised more widely, and that more services are provided to help older deafblind people maintain their health and independence."
