A STATE-of-the-art equipment centre aimed at improving the lives of blind people across the county opens its doors today. Thanks to a £2,000 cash boost from Ipswich Town football club and Football Aid, the East Suffolk Association for the Blind (ESAB) has been able to buy products designed to make life easier for the visually impaired.

A STATE-of-the-art equipment centre aimed at improving the lives of blind people across the county opens its doors today.

Thanks to a £2,000 cash boost from Ipswich Town football club and Football Aid, the East Suffolk Association for the Blind (ESAB) has been able to buy products designed to make life easier for the visually impaired.

Town chairman David Sheepshanks was due to officially open the centre, at the charity's Little Bealings headquarters, this afternoon.

The ESAB was one of Ipswich Town's nominated charities this year and through a variety of fundraising activities the club was able to donate more than £1,000.

They have also given the ESAB a number of autographed items to auction off and helped them get nearly £1,000 from the Football Aid charity.

ESAB chairman Norman Thompson said: "Provision of these kinds of goods is an important part of our work.

"They can improve people's well-being and their lifestyle quite considerably."

Gadgets available in the centre range from talking clocks to liquid indicators – which bleep when a cup is full – to more expensive items like talking microwaves.

Mr Thompson said: "This centre will enable our workers to bring in our visually impaired members to demonstrate the various items and arrange provision as appropriate."

The ESAB caters for the needs of more than 15,000 blind and visually impaired people in the area reaching from Felixstowe to Lowestoft.

It will celebrate its 90th anniversary next year.