THOUSANDS of pounds of National Lottery cash has been secured to hire a manager of a major project to improve the lives of York's visually-impaired residents and visitors.

In July, the Evening Press reported how the first speaking sign for the blind had been unveiled at the Bootham headquarters of York Blind and Partially Sighted Society (YBPSS).

Another 32 of the signs are to be placed at strategic sites across the city in a project costing £64,000.

The society hopes the next sign will be installed at the Guildhall.

Now a further £68,000 has been awarded to YBPSS by the Lottery, which will be used to pay for a full-time project manager.

YBPSS member Jim Doherty, who co-ordinated the speaking sign project, said: "When the project manager is employed he or she will look after the logistical side of things, sort out getting the speaking signs through the planning process, that sort of thing. One of the manager's first tasks will be to purchase 500 operator cards for the signs. That will mean we can give all York's visually impaired residents a free card and nobody is left out of the scheme due to the price."

The speaking signs are activated by the visually-impaired person's operator card, and tell users exactly where they are in a city. They also give warnings about obstacles such as road junctions and crossings.

Jim added: "They will massively increase the independence and mobility visually-impaired people can enjoy in York.

"Sometimes, especially during the tourist season, this city is not that easy to get around, but the signs will really help.

"The signs in Leeds can be programmed to include eight different languages, so we will go down that path as well, because although there isn't a big ethnic minority population in York, a lot of tourists do come here and we want as many as possible to be able to use the signs."

Former Lord Mayor of York Shan Braund, who sits on City of York Council's Disabled Advisory Group, said: "Well done to Jim and all the other committee members. It is because of their hard work that these signs are starting to go up.

"The signs can only be good for York, and it is good disabled peoples' rights are being looked after. "Their rights are just as important as everyone else's."

Updated: 11:57 Thursday, September 19, 2002