Our impact

We know we’re making a positive difference to thousands of people’s lives every day, but too many blind and partially sighted people are still being deprived of a proper education, unable to secure employment and denied their democratic right to vote independently.

We believe now is the time to get to the root of the problem by tackling ill-informed stereotypes and influencing long-term, sustainable change. By improving everyone’s understanding of what it really means to live with sight loss we’ll highlight everyday exclusion in our society and demand an end to injustice.

• We’re challenging and improving the system by collaborating with the right organisations, campaigning against injustice, holding those in power to account and influencing decision-makers who have the authority and means to take us closer to our vision of “a world where blind and partially sighted people can participate equitably”.
• Until that day, we’ll continue to fill the gap created by an unequal society by providing practical and emotional support to anyone who needs it; helping them to overcome barriers, boost their confidence and not let sight loss hold them back.

For more than 150 years RNIB has played a key role in driving positive change. But the hard truth is, life is still much more difficult for people with sight loss, with many experiencing inequity which negatively impacts on their quality of life.

That’s why our strategy is focused on tackling the causes of inequity. By challenging attitudes and behaviours, and by helping people to understand what it really means to live with sight loss, we’ll work with our customers, supporters and partners to remove the barriers that still exist for blind and partially sighted people in today’s society.

At the same time, we’ll work towards ensuring that more people experiencing sight loss are supported on their journey right from the moment of diagnosis. We’ll do this by working with our partners across the healthcare sector and beyond, and by continuing to provide direct emotional, practical support and information to anyone who needs it; helping them to overcome barriers, boost their confidence and not let sight loss hold them back.

You can read about this and more by downloading our strategy summary. Together, we’ll deliver sustainable, positive change and impact and help create a society that works better for everyone and sees the person, not the sight loss.

Our latest Annual Report tells the story of a busy and productive 12 months for RNIB and how we’ve given practical and emotional support to people with sight loss.

At the same time, as the report explains, we’ve launched a new strategy and made progress with two key priorities: raising awareness of the challenges of sight loss with RNIB’s biggest ever advertising campaign – See the person, not the sight loss – and the foundational work for a sight loss pathway (now known as the Eye Care Support Pathway). We also made significant steps in transforming the organisation to meet future challenges.

Highlights from the RNIB Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23

Total income: £106.6 million, including a gain on the disposal of the old London office in Judd Street of £22.1m. Excluding this gain, income was £84.5m in relation to operating activities.

Sight Loss Advice Service: Our Sight Loss Advice Service supported more than 100,000 people.

ECLOs (Eye Care Liaison Officers): 88 per cent of customers said they had a better understanding of their eye condition after speaking to an ECLO.

RNIB Bookshare: More than 47,000 students use RNIB Bookshare and now have over one million titles to choose from.

Volunteering: This year, more than 3,300 volunteers supported us.

London office: We opened our new London office – The Grimaldi Building - in March 2023.

Purpose: We’ll share a new organisational purpose in 2023/24 and follow and new income and engagement strategy to help us grow.

• You can download the full RNIB Group Annual Report and Accounts 2022/2023
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