The Access Foundation has awarded £5,000 to Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

In the UK, around 340,000 people are registered blind or partially sighted, and 2 million people are living with sight loss.*  This grant will help Guide Dogs for the Blind Association to provide life-changing services to these people.

The Guide Dogs charity is dedicated to empowering individuals with sight loss to live fulfilling lives on their own terms. Their mission extends to people of all ages, backgrounds, and relationships, offering support and guidance through their expert staff, volunteers, and specially trained dogs. The core pillars at Guide Dogs are focusing on enabling individuals to live actively, independently, and well.

The £5,000 grant will fund 36 essential kits for 36 individuals at a very pivotal moment in their lives. When a person with sight loss is paired with a new guide dog this can be an exciting but daunting time. The partnership starter kits provided as part of the service, helps to ease those early days together. Guide Dog kits come with everything a new partnership needs to begin with ease.

Ultimately, these kits will kickstart people’s lives with their newfound independence. Guide Dogs enhance the quality of life for people with sight loss, by offering a range of services tailored to individual needs, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to live life to the fullest, regardless of their visual impairment.

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association shared what this grant means to them:

“To receive a grant from the Access Group for starter kit equipment will mean an incredible amount to the new Guide Dog owners that are about to begin a new partnership. Starting a new chapter with a Guide Dog is a life changing moment, having all the equipment you need at the start, makes that moment less daunting. Thank you to the Access Group for supporting us with enabling individuals to live actively, independently, and well.”

*https://media.rnib.org.uk/documents/Key_stats_about_sight_loss_2021.pdf