About Us

How RNIB can help you

Summary: How RNIB supports people with sight problems, their families and professionals.

• We can help
• Daily living
• Keeping you in the picture
• Living life to the full
• Giving the best start in life
• How you can help us
• Further information

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Every day another 100 people will start to lose their sight. If you or someone you know has just lost their sight, we can help. This is a brief tour of what we do to support people with sight problems, their families and professionals.

Our guide to adapting to sight loss is a good place to start if you have just been diagnosed with a sight problem. It gives an overview of some of the questions you may have.

We can help

There are around two million people in the UK with sight problems. RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) is the leading charity offering practical support and advice to anyone with a sight problem. Our pioneering work helps – not just with braille and Talking Books but with imaginative and practical solutions to everyday challenges. We rely on the generosity of our supporters to provide our services.

If you have just been diagnosed with a sight problem, we can help. RNIB Helpline provides information and support for anyone with a sight problem and is a gateway to our specialist services. Our expert staff handle around 40,000 enquiries every year as the first stop for a range of information including eye health and welfare rights.

Our innovative Talk and Support services provide a range of opportunities for people with sight problems to socialise, share information and support each other over the telephone – from the comfort of their own homes.

Become a member of RNIB. Our membership scheme offers you the chance to share your experiences and views with other members, have a voice in the way RNIB and our services are run, and get involved with our campaigns. Our members’ magazine, Vision, and our information services will help you keep in touch.

Daily living

We help you live with sight loss and stay independent. Our range of products such as liquid-level indicators for making drinks safely, talking kitchen scales, calculators, watches and magnifiers help people with sight problems to continue living independently. We also sell publications, gifts and leisure items including the latest accessible digital radio with speech settings. Visit our online shop or contact Customer Services (cservices@rnib.org.uk).

Our incredibly popular Talking Book service provides a lifeline for people to carry on reading. We offer a huge and ever-growing range of titles to satisfy all tastes. Anyone with a sight problem can use our Talking Book service; you don’t have to be registered blind.

Helping Edna live with sight loss

'One day I heard about RNIB Talking Books. What a wonderful day that was! These amazing books have changed my life.'

When Edna was diagnosed with macular degeneration she was told nothing more could be done. She also has rheumatoid arthritis and losing her sight meant losing the ability to do the one thing she loved more than anything else – reading her beloved books. Now she is rediscovering old favourites like “Lorna Doone” and eagerly waits for best sellers from authors like Maeve Binchy and Michael Palin to arrive. RNIB Talking Books has given Edna her life back and she if very grateful for this vital service which relies on the generosity of our supporters to ensure its future.

Keeping you in the picture

Our transcription service works with companies and organisations to produce bills, statements, exam papers and magazines in formats that people with sight problems can read, such as large print, tape and braille.

Our See it Right book aims to help organisations produce their information in ways that everyone can read. We also advise on website design to help ensure that information is fully accessible.

Our home video service celebrated its tenth anniversary and our influence has meant that audio description is becoming more widely available. Our campaigning also secured the 50 per cent reduction in the licence fee for registered blind and partially sighted people.

We lobby national and local government, hold public meetings, organise letter-writing campaigns and work with others to achieve our campaign aims – from transport to the design of banknotes and coins, from legislation about broadcasting and copyright to accessible information.

Living life to the full

We can help with ideas on where to go on holiday, outdoor activities and arts and crafts, even DIY. We promote the benefits of leisure activities, raise awareness of the opportunities available and encourage people with sight problems to make the most of their free time.

Most jobs can be done by people with sight problems given the right training and support but only a quarter of blind and partially sighted people of working age have a job. We actively help people with sight problems to find and retain jobs and campaign for equal employment rights. Our college in Loughborough provide a wide range of opportunities to enable people with sight problems to train for new careers.

Giving the best start in life

Children and young people want the same things as their sighted friends. They want to watch television, surf the internet, play computer games and spend time with their friends. They want to get the best out of school so that they can go on to pursue careers and lead independent lives.

Through our education centres we are able to help children in local schools by training their teachers and providing equipment and specialist expertise.

Our Family Services team organises events, clubs and support groups for families affected by sight problems. We also provide practical information and advice for parents.

We help to fund adventure holidays for over 100 children and support 230 children at our schools. Our Talking Book service includes the latest “Harry Potter”.

Our teenagers site is popular among young people with sight problems, and includes a message board for teenagers. We also provide emotional support for blind and partially sighted children and their families to help them come to terms with their sight problems.

How you can help us

Why not volunteer for RNIB? You could help out at one of our events, sell raffle tickets or read books onto tape. We have many volunteering opportunities available.

As a charity we rely on the money from our fundraising to support our vital services. There are a number of ways that you can help, from taking part in a sponsored abseil to giving a regular gift of just £4 a month. Every year over a thousand people choose to remember RNIB in their will. Without such people our vital work would have to stop.

How your money helps

Whether your donation is £50 or £500 it really makes a difference.

• £8 answers a call to the RNIB Helpline for information and support.
• £20 provides information and support on employment issues to a blind or partially sighted person
• £100 pays for a young person with sight problems to spend a day on one of our vacation schemes.

You can make a donation to RNIB online, by telephone, post or direct debit.

Further information

The office of our national headquarters is in London. Our offices in the other UK countries are Cardiff in Wales, Edinburgh in Scotland and Belfast in Northern Ireland. RNIB Regional Centres across England provide local support to help people with sight problems.

If you would like this information in Bangla, Cantonese, Gujurati, Punjabi or Urdu we can provide a confidential interpreter within minutes of your call to our Helpline on 0845 766 9999 / 020 7388 2525.

This guide is available in print, on disk, in braille and on audio tape from RNIB Customer Services. Email cservices@rnib.org.uk or telephone 0845 702 3153 / 01733 37 53 50.

Content author: webeditor@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 09/06/2008 15:54