When Look Sussex was formed in 1992 there were approximately 35 families involved.
Over the years our client database has grown to more than 250 families.
Meet the trustees!About us
What we offer
The charity trustees all work completely voluntarily, in their spare time and are all parents of a Visually Impaired children, we are all very passionate about the services we provide.
We know that most children diagnosed with a visual impairment (VI) attend mainstream school and therefore have very little, or no contact, with other VI children and this, often results in them feeling very much isolated and parents’ can also feel this way.
We want to help by providing monthly free, fun, outings and activities, for our visually impaired children and their families, throughout the year, so that they can come together, share experiences, provide valuable advice to one another, whilst establishing relationships. The children can make friends and realise they are not alone and the parents are able to network and provide great support to one another.
Not forgetting, of course, the all-important brothers and sisters who sometimes struggle with the reality of having a VI sibling, who may get more attention from Mum and Dad.
Many good friendships have been formed over the years, by all parents and children.
Being a parent of a visually impaired child
Parenting can be difficult for everyone, however being told that your son/daughter will never be able to see, or may have extremely limited vision and in some cases, profound multiple learning or mobility difficulties as well, can be extremely daunting and heart-wrenching for the entire family.
We understand the reality of having to come to terms with this and of course all the questions, worries and uncertainty for the future. We hope to alleviate some of the uncertainty by bringing everyone together and providing invaluable support both physically and emotionally.
A few words from our founder; Wendy Peek MBE
Look Sussex began in 1992. My son Steven was ten years old by this time and he had been born with severe visual impairment. Life was very hectic with 3 other children as well.
I felt quite isolated as he got older, he really struggled when he started school and I reached the stage when I felt I needed other people apart from the professionals to talk to. I spoke to someone from the sensory support team, after a lot of persuading they eventually agreed to send out letters to families in West Sussex, we arranged a meeting with myself, my husband and other parents with vision impaired children, some with additional disabilities and after a very successful meeting, Look Sussex was formed.
It very soon became apparent that for other parents like ourselves, the most important thing for them was the need to talk, support and learn from each other.
This was achieved by having monthly outings or information days and a Christmas Party. At this stage there were approximately 35 families but the numbers quickly grew until we had well over 140 families.
It was lovely to see so many people, parents, grandparents and children forming friendships some of which are still as strong now as they were all that time ago.
I really loved my time running the charity and meeting so many different people and I was very sad when the time came for me to leave.
Our trustees
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Tara
Trustee (Former Secretary)
As many of our families & friends already know my only daughter, Louisha currently 15, is registered blind with no light perception. Her visual impairment was not noticed at the… Meet Tara! -
Cara
Treasurer & Trustee
My eldest daughter Lucy, who is now 12, was born with bilateral coloboma. This is a cleft palate of the eye. Lucy has keyhole-shaped pupils and her retina was not… Meet Cara! -
Jackie
Secretary & Trustee (former chair)
My eldest daughter Eden was born 12 years ago with congenital catarachs in both eyes. At 2 months old Eden began the first of her 8 operations performed at GOSH. Meet Jackie! -
Alison
Trustee
My name is Alison, I have been involved with Look Sussex for over 2 years. As a visually impaired adult I see and experience the world how many of our… Meet Alison! -
