History and development.

 Homecall’s original home visiting scheme for the visually  impaired in Hastings & St Leonards was the first such scheme  to be established in the UK. By July 1985, six visitors had been  recruited to visit eleven clients. Using our model, similar  schemes have since been set up in Cornwall, Northumberland  and West Sussex. 

 By 1996, Homecall had established additional schemes in Bexhill  and Rural Rother. In the year following, Homecall became the  Southern Home Counties winner of the Whitbread/Home Office  Volunteer Action Award.

 In April 2000, East Sussex Social Services received additional  central Government monies in the form of a two-year Promoting  Independence Grant. It subsequently contracted with East  Sussex Vision Care (ESVC) – a charitable consortium  comprising East Sussex Association for the Blind, Hastings &  Rother Voluntary Association for the Blind and Eastbourne Blind  Society – to provide a home visiting service throughout East  Sussex. In turn, ESVC contracted with Homecall to deliver the  service, known as the Independent Living Scheme. 

 The Promoting Independence Grant, which expired in March  2002, enabled Homecall to expand its pioneering home visiting  schemes for the visually impaired throughout the county from its  established areas in Hastings & St Leonards, Rural Rother and  Bexhill to Eastbourne (Sep 2000), Ouse Valley (Nov 2000),  South Wealden (Oct 2000) and North Wealden (Oct 2000).  

 Subsequent to that, East Sussex vision Care have funded  Homecall on an annual, renewable basis but the contract expired  at the end of September 2006, when Homecall, once again,  become self-funding.
 Plans for future development include a scheme to build a bank of  volunteers to offer a service to accompany
 clients to appointments and activities and offer a one-off or time  limited service to clients who need specific
 short term help and offer an increased service when a client's  carer is away or indisposed. We also intend to extend the service  to include clients living in residential care who would benefit from  the service.

 Structure

 A paid part-time Coordinator, who recruits volunteer visitors and  then ‘matches’ them with blind and partially sighted clients,  manages each area. A Director who is accountable to a  Management Committee, the majority of whom are either visitors  or clients, manages the Coordinators.