Charity funding is paramount to UK research

Fight for Sight is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC). It’s the UK membership organisation that gives us a joint voice to shout about the value of medical research on the eye, blindness and many other conditions. As a member we have to comply with AMRC standards for making sure our research funding process of peer review is fair, open and high-quality.

Today, the AMRC has published an infographic on the impact medical research charities have on the UK research environment. Last year, the total amount invested in research by AMRC members was £1.4 billion.

The infographic shows that in 2015

• AMRC members fund more than 40% of publicly funded medical research nationally
• At least 10 million people donated to medical research in 2015
• 94% of charity-funded research takes place in UK universities and hospitals
• Charities funded the salaries of at least 15,000 researchers in the UK
• Charities invested £129 million in capital projects in the UK
• Charity funding stimulated more than £500 million further investment

And that

• AMRC members fund essential research in all areas of health and ill health
• 190,000 people were recruited into charity-funded trials in 2015
• 26% of non-commercial research in the NHS is funded by charities

So it’s clear that that the money we receive in donations for eye research really is helping to make a huge difference.

You can download the infographic as a PDF from the AMRC website.