Press Release issued: 20 April 2011.
Her Royal Highness Princess Anne will officially open a new £424,000 facility in Glasgow today that will help people with sight and hearing loss move into employment.
The Learning and Development Centre, managed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland, is based within the City of Glasgow Council's Centre for Sensory Impaired People in Gullane Street, Partick.
The new centre will offer skills and personal development training aimed at preparing unemployed people who are blind and partially sighted or deaf and hard of hearing for work. As part of this, the Princess Royal will see a Work Club taking place within the centre.
The Learning and Development Centre, funded entirely by the Big Lottery, shares the same building with Café Tiki, a new social enterprise that offers work experience and training in catering skills, run in partnership with Matthew Algie Coffee.
The Princess Royal will also see demonstrations of equipment designed to make life easier for those with sight or hearing loss.
John Legg, director of RNIB Scotland, said: "We are delighted to welcome The Princess Royal here today to this superb facility that will help blind and partially sighted people enhance their job-prospects. For some time, the employment rate for people with sight loss has remained almost static at 29 per cent. Yet we know that with a level of support, people who are blind or partially sighted can achieve in the workplace.
"We hope this landmark facility - a unique partnership between public private and voluntary sector - will make a big difference. Glasgow leads the UK in its commitment to helping blind and partially sighted people achieve their full potential."
Delia Henry, director of RNID-Action on Hearing Loss Scotland, said; "The sensory cafe is an exciting prospect not least because it is at the heart of the community. It will be a great benefit to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
"Being deaf or hard of hearing can be very isolating, so having somewhere that not only offers employment prospects but also offers a social setting is very important. I would also encourage local people to come along and use the cafe as their support well help to make the cafe a success and benefit everyone."
Councillor Matthew Kerr, executive member for social care, and
David Crawford, director of social work services, will also meet the Princess Royal on behalf of the City of Glasgow Council.