蜜芽传媒

Toni Kalvans on some of the issues she faces as a blind person - and some of the responses which have left her feeling baffled and disappointed.

She's now calling for housing association staff to be better trained when working with visually impaired people.

ASPIRE STATEMENT:

Paul Malkin, Head of Customer Services at Aspire Housing: "We are aware of an issue with ants in Ms Kalvans' home and we have been working with her to resolve this.
"Ant infestations, along with other pest issues, are generally the tenant's responsibility. However, we do take individual circumstances into consideration, and we have provided additional support for Ms Kalvans by sourcing and installing ant traps in her home.
"We also understand that Ms Kalvans has a recurring issue with leaves on the path. We have supported where we can by clearing leaves in the past, and more recently carrying out tree works to reduce leaf fall around her home. We will visit Ms Kalvans to assess her options for further support.
"We aim to ensure that all customers feel safe and supported within their homes, and delivering awareness training for colleagues is an important part of this. We provide colleagues with Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training, and we have an internal EDI Forum who champion this at Aspire.
"We will always do what we can to help customers with additional needs. We regularly offer help and support to customers outside our scope of provision where we鈥檙e able to do so and offer signposting services where appropriate."

MPFT STATEMENT:
A spokesperson for Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT) said: 鈥淢PFT鈥檚 Sensory Team offers specialist information, advice, guidance and support to people living in Staffordshire (excluding Stoke-on-Trent) who have a visual impairment, are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deafened or Deafblind. The aim of the service is to help people stay independent, and to make everyday tasks easier and safer in the home, and in the wider community 鈥� so we are really pleased to hear this person鈥檚 positive experience.
鈥淭he number of Rehabilitation Officers for Visual Impairment (ROVI) within the team is increasing, rather than reducing; with a newly qualified ROVI having joined last year and another due to qualify this year, with a further two qualified ROVIs due to join next year as part of the national Apprenticeship programme.
鈥淭he team works closely with partner organisations such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), Staffordshire Sight Loss Association and Beacon Vision, who also provide specialist information, advice and guidance support in terms of supporting individuals with a visual impairment.鈥�

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