Jewish Blind & Disabled

One in five people in the UK face a shocking and life changing diagnosis of disability at some point in their lives, with someone going blind every hour. Jewish Blind & Disabled is still the only organisation in the Jewish community providing independent living with 24/7 on site support for people who find themselves in this situation whether through illness, an accident or age.

When someone moves into one of our buildings they don’t only move into an apartment specially designed to enable them to manage those essential everyday tasks, they also move into a warm and welcoming community. A diagnosis of disability can leave someone feeling isolated and lonely. Often people find themselves a prisoner in their own home, unable to get out their own front door and sooner or later even the best intentioned of friends have to get on with their own lives. Moving into a Jewish Blind & Disabled development changes all that. Of course people can choose just to enjoy their privacy behind their own front door if they wish. But most prefer also to make the most of the very many clubs and activities, including celebrations of all the chagim that take place regularly in the beautifully designed communal lounges and accessible gardens.

Last year marked 50 years since Cecil Rosen first set up the charity dedicated to enabling people from the age of 18 upwards, with physical disabilities or impaired vision, to live independently with the dignity and choice that are so easy for others to take for granted. Much has changed since we opened our first development all that time ago. We now have seven fantastic, state-of-the-art, beautifully designed developments of mobility apartments and we are delighted that building work is currently under way on our next development of 19 apartments in Bushey Heath due to open toward the end of this year.

However, there are still so many people living in accommodation that is totally unsuitable to their needs. People who have conditions like Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Motor Neuron or Huntingtons Disease; or have been the victims of an accident; or find their bodies becoming frailer while their minds are still young and active.  And so we are always looking for suitable land for new developments so that they too can experience the life changing transformation that only Jewish Blind & Disabled can provide.

As an independent charity that does not receive any government funding we are so very grateful to those whose support helps us to continue to realise Cecil Rosen’s dream.