Previously Head of Sight Loss Prevention at RNIB Cymru, Ceri Jackson has worked for RNIB in England and Wales for nearly 20 years. In more recent years Ceri has been managing our external affairs, membership, sight loss prevention, and Eye Clinic support services. Ceri has also worked as a freelance consultant in the third sector.
Ceri is Chair of the Wales Vision Strategy Advisory Group and the Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Service for Wales Advisory Group.
Ceri said: "I am delighted with this opportunity to lead an organisation that I care so passionately about. I am committed to working closely with our members, staff, volunteers, and partners to improve the lives of blind and partially sighted people across Wales. Last year our Welfare Rights Officers helped over 480 people to claim nearly £1m. Our Eye Clinic support service provided emotional support and practical help to thousands of people at the point of diagnosis. We are expanding our employment service and our children's services and we continue to campaign to stop people losing their sight unnecessarily. We're helping more people, in more ways, then ever before.
In spite of major economic challenges, we have achieved much in recent years, supporting people with sight loss in Wales, but we must not be complacent, we face significant challenges ahead. We will need to work harder to secure vital funding and we will continue to campaign as we face cuts to welfare benefits and social services budgets, which will mean more people needing our support.
A key focus for me over the next few months will, of course, be our move to new city centre premises with Cardiff, Vales and Valleys. Bringing the two organisations under one roof, with a new state-of-the art resource centre, is a great opportunity to harness the expertise and commitment of the staff, volunteers and members of both charities, helping us deliver even more for blind and partially sighted people. We must ensure our new centre is as welcoming for our members, volunteers, and staff. Our members will always be at the heart of everything we do, and I'm looking forward to working with them as we continue on this exciting journey.
Moving forward, our objective as the leading charity in Wales supporting people with sight loss is to improve the lives of all blind and partially sighted people in Wales, through embedding our services and working with partners to ensure everyone in Wales has access to the support and services they need to live full and independent lives."