Despite the devastation caused by sight loss, 70% of adults receive no support within the first 12 months of diagnosis, and are likely to encounter poor education, high unemployment, depression, loneliness and financial insecurity throughout their lifetime.

The rise in the UK’s elderly population continues to impact social care. With shortages in funding, local authorities have prioritised the services they provide, leaving the third sector under great pressure to plug gaps.

Childhood sight loss is on the increase. There are around 35,000 children and young people living with a vision impairment in the UK. Some 80% of a child’s learning takes place using vision, and every day they go without support can affect their development.

Yet we know that the public does not find our charitable cause as engaging as other causes; people fail to relate to the issue and consequently we need to work much harder to build emotional connections with the public.

By introducing new services, embracing new technologies, digitising some of the ways we provide services and collaborating with other charities and organisations, we will be able to support thousands more people living with sight loss than we do today.