MySight York Awarded National Lottery Funding for Innovative Project

Why Digital Vision Is Needed

People with sight loss experience some of the most entrenched health and digital inequalities locally and nationally.

Research shows:

• 28% of people with sight loss have never used the internet
• Among adults aged 75+, this rises to 47%
• More than 40% feel cut off from the world around them
• Only 17% receive emotional support after diagnosis

In York alone, over 7,000 people are currently living with sight loss, which is projected to rise to more than 8,400 by 2032.

As essential services, healthcare systems, employment opportunities and social connection increasingly move online, the ability to navigate digital spaces has become central to everyday life. Without specialist support, people with sight loss risk being excluded from opportunities that others take for granted.

Digital Vision has been developed as a direct response to this growing inequality.

It also allows us to embed the learning from our recent pilot digital inclusion work into a fully structured, sustainable pathway. The pilots showed clear demand and real impact, with people gaining confidence and independence more quickly when specialist support was available. Digital Vision enables us to take what worked, refine it, strengthen it and build it into our core offer, ensuring digital inclusion is no longer a small-scale add-on, but an integrated part of how we support people to live well with sight loss for the long term.

What the Project Will Do

Digital Vision will create a clear pathway from diagnosis to digital confidence, independence and leadership. It will provide tailored digital skills support to help people with sight loss build confidence using accessible technology and online services. The project will offer personalised guidance, peer-informed learning opportunities and community-based activity that creates clear pathways from diagnosis to digital independence.

Alongside direct support, the project will also work with local organisations and community venues to strengthen digital accessibility more broadly, helping to embed inclusive practice across the city.

What Success Will Look Like

Digital Vision is focused on creating measurable, lasting change.

We expect to see increased digital confidence, reduced isolation and stronger participation in community life. People will feel more able to navigate services independently, while

local organisations become more digitally inclusive and accessible.

The ambition is not simply to provide support, but to secure lasting independence and inclusion.

A Message from Scott Jobson, Chief Executive

“Digital inclusion is no longer optional, it is fundamental to independence, access to services and community participation. People with sight loss face disproportionate barriers in a rapidly digitising society.

Success for Digital Vision will mean people confidently using technology to manage their daily lives, feeling less isolated, participating more fully in their communities, and navigating services independently. It will mean stronger, more inclusive local organisations and a community where sight loss does not limit opportunity.

This project is strengthening pathways from diagnosis to confident, connected community life.”

A Message from Vicky Colombi, Special Projects Lead

“I would like to personally thank The National Lottery Community Fund and National Lottery players for making Digital Vision possible.

This funding allows us to build something that responds directly to what people with sight loss have told us they need – practical support, confidence with technology and a clearer pathway after diagnosis. It’s incredibly encouraging to know that this work has been recognised and supported.

Over the coming months, we’ll be sharing more about how Digital Vision will be rolled out, how people can get involved and how the pathway will develop.

Please stay in touch for updates as this important work begins.”

As a registered charity, MySight York is completely dependent upon the generosity of our funders to empower more than 1,700 York residents to live well with sight loss. Without the support of our donors, corporate partners, and charitable trusts, this simply wouldn’t be possible – making the National Lottery Community Fund’s investment in our work both deeply appreciated and truly transformative for the people and communities we serve.