MORE than 100 volunteers have been hard at work to bring Christmas cheer to blind and partially sighted people up and down the country.

The volunteers work at the Royal National Institute of Blind People’s personal transcription centre in David’s Lane, Ivybridge.

They have been creating Christmas cards and carol song sheets in a range of accessible formats, so people with sight problems do not miss out on any of the festive fun this year.

The centre, which transcribes 5,000 pages of print a month, provides materials in braille, large print, audio and electronic formats for people with sight loss throughout the UK.

Centre manager Gill Cowsill said: ‘From the feedback we receive from our 670 customers, we know how important our service is to people living with sight loss in the UK.

‘With our customer base growing every year, the work of our volunteers is vital for us to help as many people as possible, particularly over the Christmas period.

‘We believe that everyone should be able to enjoy Christmas, and thanks to the hard work of our volunteers at Ivybridge, we can make this possible for hundreds of people living with sight loss.’

There are approximately two million people in the UK who are entitled to use the service, and the Ivybridge team receives requests for all sorts of documents, from instructions and recipes to letters and even wedding invitations.

The personal Transcription Centre is available to anyone with sight loss who lives in the UK, and RNIB members can request up to 300 pages of free transcription every year.

For more information about the RNIB’s transcription services call 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk.