Foresight North East Lincolnshire Ltd.

From its inception in 1999 Foresight has grown from a group of enthusiastic volunteers with a mission to assist blind and partially sighted people to lead more fulfilled lives, into a well respected mainstream support organisation addressing the varied and complex needs of its clients. Demand for the services of the organisation is such that Foresight has already grown out of its first home and moved into a new improved premises. Whilst the organisation was delivering a limited range of services under a variety of grant-funded schemes these premises were adequate and indeed accommodated 10,000 visits last year. Foresight, however, realised some time ago, that if it was going to continue to grow and sustain itself in the future it needed to move away from grant dependency towards becoming a deliverer of mainstream services. During extensive market research with its client group, Foresight uncovered a massive range of needs and untold areas of distress that were not being addressed by the statutory authorities. After long negotiations with the local authority Foresight were able to successfully tender for its first contract to deliver services. These have proved so successful that the local authority has procured additional services from the organisation. Foresight has also applied to several external bodies for funding assistance on new projects and these are due to come online very shortly. The only obstacle now in the way of the organisations' expansion and sustainability is the building it occupies. It is not large enough to accommodate the increasing number of its clients, is not adaptable to meet the specialised needs of its clients and it cannot accommodate the new services Foresight wish to offer its growing client base. This will shortly be addressed as we establish a new base for the organisation that is fit for use and this will be a major stand of the organisations move towards sustainability and away from grant dependence. During its phenomenal growth Foresight has benefited from the wide experience of its Trustees, who have supported the staff and volunteers in growing the business in a sustainable and measured way and this experience will stand the organisation in good stead during its next phase of growth.