We' re thrilled to announce the most recent grants we have awarded to 13 organisations.
Each of these organisations provide valuable services and are a first port of call for people losing their sight or seeking support to improve their physical, mental and economic wellbeing. They can be a lifeline.
Staff shortages, high energy costs and an uncertain economic climate are just a few of the obstacles sight loss organisations face. We also know that many vision impaired people in parts of the UK face a postcode lottery, and don’t have access to the essential support they need.
Our capacity building funding is designed to support the creation of a sight loss sector that is coherent, sustainable, and resilient to the rising demand for equal service provision across the UK.
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Beacon Centre for the Blind - Sharing the Vision programme
With this funding Beacon Centre for the Blind intends to broaden the scope of their award-winning Sharing the Vision programme, creating a replicable blueprint that other sight loss charities can roll out in their areas.
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Deafblind UK - Research and Policy Development
Deafblindness is a spectrum; some people are severely affected, others less so; but all affected by dual sensory loss face challenges which those with normal sight and hearing can have trouble understanding.
Deafblind UK is striving to increase awareness of deafblindness but also increase understanding of what support is available to someone with dual sensory loss through the launch of a five year research and policy development programme.
This work will lead to a greater understanding and celebration of diversity, leading to a greater cohesion within our society.
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Galloways - Expanding services to meet increases in demand
Galloways offers a range of services to people living with sight loss in Preston, Chorley, Lancaster, Morecambe and Southport. The organisation supports over 1,500 people each year. With this funding the organisation is aiming to:
• Strengthen their volunteer programme
• Develop an outcomes and impact measurements framework improving decision-making and strengthen engagement where it's needed most
• Design a service user consultation process so the organisation can better understand and support the people it supports -
Insight Gloucestershire - Building an official partnership with Sight Support
In 2023 to secure the future of Insight Gloucestershire, the Board of the charity approached Sight Support West of England, just across the county border, to manage the organisation. Although only founded in 2018 Sight Support has proven itself as a resilient and sustainable organisation, notably with the turnaround of another organisation it manages, Wiltshire Sight.
The three organisations, with our funding, wish to cement the formal partnership to move beyond a contracted management situation to a formalised shared management structure.
With our funding the organisations will create a partnership model, maintaining independence whilst benefitting from significant cost-sharing arrangements.
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LOOK UK - Securing the longevity of the organisation
LOOK is a registered national charity, supporting children and young people with visual impairments and their families across the whole of the UK. The organisation runs a vital peer-mentoring service.
With the loss of two major donors the organisation is facing a precarious future, but with our award the organisation is able to invest in fundraising to secure their future.
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Seeing Dogs - Meeting the demand for seeing dogs
Seeing Dogs currently trains and places 4-6 dogs per year, but with growing waiting lists, the organisation would like to build capacity in order to train at least 12 dogs per year.
The organisation aims to do this by raising their profile as a charity through a communications campaign and by embedding a sustainable strategy to generate consistent income. Our award will cover costs of expertise and utilise the services of a paid administrator for around 80 hours to support the charity to organise and log meetings and prepare reports for volunteers and trustees.
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Sense Ability Matters - Expanding service area
Sense Ability Matters is a charity which supports all adults in South Tyneside and Gateshead who have a sensory impairment. Working with other regional sight loss charities, the organisation is looking to expand services to include the geographical area of North Tyneside. It is known that there is a lack of community-based services available for blind and vision impaired people living in this area.
Our grant will provide capacity for this expansion by funding; staff time, room hire for meetings and incentives for blind and partially sighted people to co-design services.
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Sight Life - Increasing services to meet demand
Sight Life (SL) offers direct support services, and community activity for blind and partially sighted people (bps) across South Wales.
Demand for services is increasing with the organisation, and the people they support, facing a postcode lottery of support and funding from local authorities.
In Rhondda Cynon Taff (RCT), no local authority funding is available to support the essential third sector services Sight Life provides for blind and vision impaired people that enable them to live independent lives or engage in isolation reducing activities.
All activity, staffing and community development is funded from the organisation's own funds and reserves.
With our funding Sight Life is aiming to:
• Provide locally based life-changing services, contact lines and volunteer development programmes in the area.
• build upon the existing corporate networks they have in the area to enable long-term funding partnership proposals in the absence of Local Authority support.
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Sound without Sight - Supporting vision impaired musicians
Sound without Sight runs the community-led Knowledge Hub, a one stop shop for information related to music and accessibility. The Hub collates existing resources and allows users to contribute to fill in knowledge gaps, with over 170 items of content posted since its launch in May 2023.
The Hub's community need is now outweighing capacity and the organisation is looking for financial support to nurture and sustain the initiative.
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Stargardt's Connected - Addressing the unmet needs of a specific condition
Stargardt's Connected is a small grassroots charity which was founded in 2019 by a mother who's son was diagnosed with the condition, aged 7. The mother who is the co-founder and CEO of Stargardt's Connected has set up the charity to address the unmet need of not having a condition specific patient group for Stargardt's and covers all areas around the UK.
As the charity and the Stargardt’s community grows, the CEO is at capacity and can not solely provide the much needed services to the community. Our funding will enable the charity to continue to fund a part time Engagement and Operations Co-ordinator role to support the CEO in the delivery and expansion of services.
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Step Change Studios - Expanding and launching new services
Step Change Studios is an inclusive dance organisation committed to supporting disabled people's wellbeing. In recent years there's been an increase in requests to provide more opportunities. With our capacity building funding the organisation is aiming for an expansion of resources for teaching, training, advocacy work, and the running and administrative costs associated with this, including access costs for co-production.
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Living Paintings - Growing services to meet a growing need
The Living Paintings Trusts creates fiction and non-fiction audio tactile resources to help blind and partially sighted children learn to read.
Kick started by an innovative project to make the imagery of The Coronation of King Charles III accessible to blind and partially sighted children, the organisation experienced unexpectedly rapid growth in the number benefiting from their free, postal, Touch to See library. In the last two years the number has more than doubled from 2,300 to over 5,000.
This demand in growth is unsustainable unless the organisation is able to invest in infrastructure, which is where our award steps in.
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Vision of Adventure - Cutting down on waiting lists
Vision of Adventure delivers short residential courses in adventurous activities. The courses, based in the North West, are specifically for visually impaired adults, supported by specialist instructors and a team of trained, volunteer sighted guides. Activities include caving, canoeing, rock climbing, open water swimming, tandem cycling, triathlon, and hill walking. Beneficiaries come from all over the country.
In 2025 the organisation has waiting lists for 75% of its planned courses. The charity is now ready to move forward, expand and build on what they have created so far. Our funding will enable the charity to increase provision and meet the increasing need for their courses.
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