Useful Links and Charities
Local Charities
- Bournemouth Blind Society
- Dorset Diabetic eye screening
- Dorset Blind Society
National Charities
- Fight for Sight https://www.fightforsight.org.uk/ – funds pioneering research to prevent sight loss and treat eye disease in adults and children
- Guide Dogs for the Blind https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/ – promoting the health, equality and independence of blind and partially sighted people
- Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) offers information, support and advice to people with sight loss
- SeeAbility – works to encourage people who are blind or partially sighted and have other multiple disabilities to achieve their full potential and enhance their quality of life
- Blind Veterans UK https://www.blindveterans.org.uk/ – a national charity providing free support and services to all vision-impaired Armed Forces and National Service veterans, no matter when they served or how they lost their sight.
- Thomas Pocklington Trust – offers people who are blind or have sight loss the help, support and care they require to lead an independent life, based on their individual requirements.
Websites relating to Eye Conditions
- Diabetes UK – working for people with diabetes, funding research, campaigning and helping people live with the condition
- International Glaucoma Association (IGA) www.glaucoma.uk– is a UK-based charity for people with glaucoma. They provide information and support to people with glaucoma, provide funding for research related to early diagnosis and treatment, and educate professionals and the public about the condition. For more information about glaucoma and their services, visit their website or call their helpline on 01233 64 81 70.
- The Macular Society – a specialist charity for people affected by any form of macular disease or macular degeneration
- Nystagmus Network – run by individuals and families affected by the eye condition nystagmus
- Retina UK https://retinauk.org.uk/ – supports people affected by inherited progressive sight loss and invests in medical research to ensure that people can live a fulfilling life, now and in the future
- Squint information
- Thyroid eye disease
- Uveitis Information Group – a patient led charity, based in the UK, run by volunteers who suffer from uveitis
Websites relating to children’s Eye Conditions
Resources and information for the visually impaired
- Calibre Audio Library - Offers a free postal library service of unabridged books on memory sticks, MP3s and CDs for anyone with sight problems or physical disabilities which prevent them from reading print
- Guide Dogs for the Blind Association - Official website for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. They also provide a 'CustomEyes Book Service' producing custom-made large print books in font sizes and formats to suit the individual's eye condition
- Living Paintings - A free library of tactile books with audio description, bringing the visual world to life for blind and partially sighted people. They make special tactile versions of pictures that come to life when fingers feel them. Audio descriptions tell the pictures’ stories while directing the fingertips across the tactile image, describing what is being touched, felt and ‘seen’. Tactile story books for children also include clear braille sheets between each page of text so they can read the story's text themselves
- RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) - The UK's leading blind charity offering information, support and advice to those with sight loss.
- RNIB Technology and independent learning - Lots of useful up-to-date information on access software, hardware and tablets
- RNIB Library - RNIB's national library service, offering over 60,000 titles in audio, Braille, giant print, music formats available entirely for free
- http://www.sightlinedirectory.org.uk/ - detailed directory of services and information aimed at helping blind or partially sighted people
Professional Bodies
Royal College of Ophthalmologists: https://www.rcophth.ac.uk
General Optical Council: www.optical.org
Association of Optometrists: https://www.aop.org.uk/
College of Optometrists: https://www.college-optometrists.org/
British and Irish Orthoptic Society: www.orthoptics.org.uk
The Health and Care Professions Council: www.hcpc-uk.org
