InFocus has a long and special history of supporting people with vision impairment and complex needs.
Our main campus in Devon brings together in one place a unique combination of people, knowledge, expertise and facilities that each person needs to learn, develop, thrive and take their place in society. People across our care and education provisions are part of a tight-knit community. They are at the centre of all we do.
InFocus Charity has over 185 years of history supporting young people with vision impairment. Our specialism in Cortical Vision Impairment (CVI) makes us unique in the UK. We are the only education provision solely focussed on the combined difficulties that arise from a vision impairment alongside other disabilities such as profound and multiple learning difficulties, autism, long term health conditions, physical disability or life limiting conditions.
A strategic plan imagines how we w ant things to be in the future and then sets out how we are going to make this happen. It takes account of our values, and looks at the principal internal and ex ternal challenges facing InFocus over the next three years.
This plan considers:
- How we develop the quality and effectiveness of our provision
- How we grow our services in order to benefit more people
- How we develop and invest in our sites and facilities
- How we make more use of our specialisms in the field of vision impairment and complex needs
- How we support and develop our staff team
These specific strategic activities sit alongside our ‘business as usual’ activities to deliver our services, maintain our site and connect with parents, professionals and funders.
Download the Strategic Plan as a PDF
Download the Strategic Plan as a text only document
Our Purpose
Everyone deserves the opportunity to live their life to the fullest, taking every chance to make decisions and control their own futures.
At InFocus, we are dedicated to making this a reality for young people across the UK with vision impairment (such as blindness or partial sight) and complex needs, who often face a multitude of barriers due to the combined impact of vision impairment, other disabilities, and additional support needs.
What we do
We use our specialist expertise and knowledge to help each person with vision impairment and complex needs find their unique pathway towards their very best life. We transform lives by:
- Preparing young people with vision impairments and complex needs for adulthood. We offer a specialist residential college for 16–25-year-olds.
- Creating opportunities to live a full, active, and purposeful life We provide specialist residential care, community, supported living, and day services for individuals over 18.
- Improving the understanding of and support for vision impairment with complex needs. We deliver training, develop partnerships, and contribute our expertise to enhance the quality of support available to people beyond those using InFocus services.
Our Values
People First
We put the people we support at the centre of our services. We act with kindness, respect and a positive caring attitude. We always listen to the voice of the people we support.
Ambition
We believe in the potential of the people who use our services. We are ambitious for them and for our staff, and for our organisation.
Innovation
We act boldly, take risks and embrace technology so we can expand and improve opportunities for people with vision impairment and complex needs, and be more effective in the way we work.
Collaboration
We have a strong multi-disciplinary approach that values teamwork. We work with others to create the best outcomes for the people we support.
Recognition
We recognise and are inspired by the achievements of our young people. We celebrate their wow moments. We actively appreciate the contribution that our staff and volunteers make and we look after them well.
Outcomes and Impacts
The success of InFocus can be measured by the quality of life that people experience by using our services. This is both within our community and when they move on to the next chapter of their lives outside of InFocus.
Our young people and other stakeholders have identified the following outcomes which we use to assess the effectiveness of our services and the impact of our organisation.
- I am living a healthy life with good mental health and emotional well-being.
- I am advocating for myself independently or with some support.
- I am following my passions and doing things I really enjoy.
- I am living as independently as I can, with the right level of support.
- I am able to use my money and make decisions about spending to improve my life.
- I am in work, volunteering, or enjoying valued activities.
- I am using technology effectively to support and enhance daily life.
- I am making choices about all parts of my life, to the fullest extent possible.
- I am maximising the use of my functional vision.
- I am an active citizen in my community.
- I am travelling within my community, with just enough support.
- I am enjoying relationships with family and friends and meeting new people through a variety of social opportunities.
- I am using my voice about things that matter to me.
Focus 1 – The quality and effectiveness of our provision
Why is this important?
The young people we support deserve the very best opportunities to achieve and develop.
- Local authority funding for our services is tighter than ever, with more emphasis on value for money.
- Students are increasingly with us for shorter times in education, so our College must be focussed on the things that will make the most difference in their current and future lives.
- Good grades from regulators give confidence to potential students and service users, their parents and carers and commissioners from local and health authorities.
We will be working on:
- Improving the overall quality of education that students receive in our college (as rated by our regulator, by parents, by commissioners and by students).
- Ensuring the effectiveness of our College curriculum and staffing structures.
- Continuing to improve the quality of our teaching and learning approaches and striving to be outstanding.
- Maintaining and evidencing a high quality of life for adults in our residential and community services.
- Creating mechanisms for evaluating the experience of our service users and the impact of our work.
- Building an alumni community and collaborating with people to make this a valued activity.
- Creating better relationships with local authorities around commissioning.
- Making each service financially sustainable and looking at how we can offer better value for money.
In three years time, we want to be able to say…
- All our regulated services are rated as at least “Good” by Ofsted or CQC.
- We can demonstrate the positive impact of all the services we provide, working with past and current service users.
- We have collaborated with local authorities and achieved more effective commissioning for our specialist FE residential college.
- All our services are financially sustainable and value for money has increased.
Focus 2 – The growth of our services
Why is this important?
- There is growing demand for all our adult services with waiting lists.
- We have capacity in our College, which has a very unique offer and is rated Good by Ofsted. Scale helps to reduce costs, and this saving can be passed on to commissioners.
- We have many specialist facilities, resources and adaptations around vision impairment which more people could make use of, thus increasing the benefit we offer as a charity.
- Additional income and more supporters will help us create better spaces and new opportunities.
- Increased awareness of the Charity and its services will enable us to support more people.
We will be working on:
- Locating, refurbishing, staffing and opening a new residential care home.
- Locating and opening new supportive living houses working with new partners.
- Promoting the college to relevant schools, parent groups and professionals.
- Attending key events, exhibitions and networks to showcase our college and our adult services.
- Finding local partners who could make use of our facilities and creating sustainable ways of supporting this to happen.
- Opening new charity shops.
- Increasing our income from grants and fundraising.
- Increasing our supporter numbers.
In three years time, we want to be able to say…
- More people are enjoying a full and active life through our specialist residential care support.
- More people are living independently as active citizens through our supported living service.
- An increased number of students are learning about their next steps to adulthood in our College.
- Increased engagement with us through fundraising, volunteering and social media has led to more awareness and more funds to support our work.
- We have expanded our charity retail and increased our net profit, supporting the charity to succeed and expand.
Focus 3 – Developing our site and facilities
Why is this important?
- Our site and its specialist facilities are one of the major reasons that people choose to use our education and care services. The quality of our site and services is critical to the success of the charity.
- We want young people to benefit from spaces and equipment that give them maximum independence, choice and control.
- To enable more people to user our services, some of our spaces need to have increased accessibility and updated technology.
- We can maximise use of our space to create new opportunities for people with vision impairment and complex needs at InFocus and in the local community.
We will be working on
- Modernising and upgrading our buildings, making them more accessible and more energy efficient.
- Making our residential buildings feel more homely and adapting them to be accessible to all potential users.
- Investing in better IT connectivity across our site and between our different locations.
- Investing in the use of technology in our living and learning spaces and for individual students.
- Implementing energy and water saving systems across the site.
- Redeveloping our kitchen/café space and the Haldon/Dinham area of the campus into useable space that benefits us, our partners and the local community.
In three years time, we want to be able to say…
- We have reduced our energy and water consumption.
- We have created new or more accessible facilities on site which has enabled more people to use our services.
- We have increased access to up-to-date technology and equipment for young people and staff.
- We have a new catering space which supports staff, students and young people, other site users and visitors.
- IT connections are robust.
Focus 4 – Supporting and developing our staff and volunteers
Why is this important?
- The availability and quality of our services is entirely dependent on the recruitment and retention of a staff team with the right values, attitudes, skills, knowledge and experience.
- We are in competition with other employers who may offer a higher wage.
- Agency staffing is expensive and does not deliver consistency for our young people.
- Governance and leadership are increasingly important, especially in our regulated services.
- Offering good training and development helps retention and benefits the people who use our services as well as our employees and the organisation.
We will be working on
- Further staff recruitment campaigns to ensure we have our own skilled and committed workforce.
- Identifying further affordable but desirable staff benefits to aid recruitment and retention.
- Finding new ways to recognise long and exemplary service.
- Fully implementing the new HR system.
- Reviewing the training requirements and ensuring high levels of training compliance.
- Recruiting trustees to the Board who have relevant skills and experience.
- Investing in leadership development.
- Keeping pay competitive, attractive and rewarding.
- Ensuring all staff have CPD opportunities.
In three years time, we want to be able to say…
- We only use agency staff to cover a small part of our staffing and our agency costs are lower.
- All staff who support young people have had specific training on VI, CVI and complex needs each year.
- Staff recruitment is successful, staff retention and attendance is high, and staff satisfaction is high across all areas.
- Training compliance is maintained at a high level.
- We have recruited new trustees including those with knowledge of SEND and adult care.
Focus 5 – Making more of our specialisms
Why is this important?
- Our integrated multi-disciplinary approach to meet VI and complex needs is unique and makes us stand out from other providers. It is a distinctly compelling reason why people use our services.
- We are known as a vision impairment (VI) organisation so it is imperative that we maintain and develop our VI expertise across the organisation.
- More of the young people we work with present a range of complex needs alongside their VI so staff must be knowledgeable and effective in supporting these.
- By sharing our specialist knowledge with others we can improve the lives of many more young people and have far greater impact.
We will be working on
- Increasing the amount of specialist training available to staff in vision impairment and complex needs.
- Developing and promoting a training offer for professionals working with young people who have vision impairment and complex needs.
- Creating beneficial partnerships with other individuals, charities and organisations that fund or deliver specific outcomes for our beneficiaries.
- Publicising, sharing and demonstrating our approaches, outcomes and knowledge to others.
In three years time, we want to be able to say…
- We successfully delivered a training offer to external professionals that benefits young people with VI and complex needs outside of InFocus.
- We have core partnerships that deliver benefit to our beneficiary groups within and outside of InFocus.
- We are part of influential networks in our sector which shape and improve policy and practice that affects our beneficiaries.
- Our overall beneficiary numbers have increased through our partnerships and sharing of our knowledge.