A CHARITY has unveiled a new set of wheels which it hopes will give more blind and visually impaired people the chance to join in with its social activities.

Support 4 Sight, a sight loss charity based in George Street, Saffron Walden, was able to buy its new seven-seated Vauxhall Zafira after being awarded £15,000 in grant money.

Uttlesford District Council matched the £7,500 donated by the National Lottery’s Awards For All scheme, which helps fund community-based projects across the country, with a grant from its Jubilee Fund.

Chairman of Support 4 Sigh, Iris Evans, who is also a member of the district council for Stansted South, said it was a “wonderful day” for the charity.

She said: “We have been waiting for this for such a long time and now we finally have it – everybody is so excited. This is going to help so many people in the community who are visually impaired or blind.

“We run coffee mornings and social events so having this car means we can go out and bring people to us in a more economic way, when before we had to rely only on volunteers.”

The charity’s Wheels For Sight project was created to reduce the running costs of its outreach sessions.

It will allow an estimated 300 home visits to visually impaired people in Uttlesford every year and help elderly blind people attend Support 4 Sight’s social activities, including its coffee mornings.

The car was unveiled outside the district council’s offices on London Road, Saffron Walden, with leader Cllr Jim Ketteridge, portfolio holder for finance, Cllr Robert Chambers, Cllr Evans, and director of Support 4 Sight, Madeleine Cassidy.

Cllr Chambers said the authority was “delighted” to provide financial support to Support 4 Sight via its Jubilee Fund, created to help charities and groups using cash from a government grant for building new homes.

“Support 4 Sight is a wonderful local charity which does a great deal of work for the benefit of visually impaired residents in west Essex,” he said.