​Edinburgh charity announces it is to pay the living wage to all staff

Scotland’s largest visual impairment charity has announced that it will introduce the living wage.

The Board of the Royal Blind has said it will implement the pay rate for staff from 1 April.

Some 61 workers out of a total of 458 will have their wages increased to £7.85 an hour in roles including kitchen and domestic staff, drivers, care assistants and trainee proof readers.

Royal Blind chief executive Richard Hellewell said: “I am delighted that Royal Blind is becoming a living wage employer.

“The new rate will make a real difference to many of our employees.

"It should also have business benefits in terms of staff recruitment, retention and well being.”

The majority of staff that will benefit from the change work at the Royal Blind School and Braeside House, Royal Blind’s care home for elderly people with a visual impairment in Edinburgh.

In January Royal Blind announced the acquisition of land in Paisley to construct a second care home as well as a veteran’s centre for its sister charity Scottish War Blinded.

The new wage structure will support the recruitment of staff in the charity’s new developments as well as its existing services in Edinburgh.

The charity expects the new services in Paisley to create over 100 jobs.