Rotherham Sight & Sound is homeward bound

When RSS took over the centre in Rotherham back in 2017, there were no clients on its database.

There are now 1,200 vision impaired and 1,000 hearing impaired clients and the charity is delighted that its Ship Hill HQ has been made more accessible.

Staff will move back in from February 1, when the hearing aid service will resume from the building.

The cafe and activities will follow – likely to be in March.

The work has included adding a lift, moving the main entrance and adding a ramp, fully refurbishing the ground floor and providing an accessible toilet.

A charity spokesperson said: “Building work presents a lot of challenges and this has been a big project for a small charity, especially given the complications from the impact on building work after Covid.

“Everything needs to be done properly and this takes time.”

Chief executive Joanne Ardern added: “We are excited for the future and look forward to you joining us for this next stage.

“We also look forward to developing more relationships with supporters and other organisations that we work with.

“Our heartfelt thanks to our volunteers who have continued to support our services, and to the many individuals and organisations who have supported this project with donations. “Finally, we want to thank our staff who have adapted to the many challenges that this project has presented and who have worked hard to ensure we still offer our services to our clients. We couldn’t have done it without you all.”