Two sight loss charities complete their merger
Howard Lake | 9 January 2017 | News
The Royal London Society for Blind People and Royal Society for Blind Children merged on 1 January 2017, having worked in close partnership since 2014.
The single entity will continue to expand its services nationally with the aim of ensuring that “no child should grow up to be poor or lonely just because they are blind.”
Both charities were two of the oldest sight-loss charities in the UK, with RSBC having supported blind and partially sighted children, young people, and their families for nearly 200 years.
The merged charity will continue to focus on childhood sight loss and its negative impact on life chances. It estimates that 90% of the 22,000 or so blind and partially sighted children and young people in England and Wales who are diagnosed with sight loss in youth will not work for more than six months of their lives.
Dr Tom Pey, RSBC’s Chief Executive said:
“This merger has been successful because our staff, volunteers and supporters, share a determination to radically improve the life chances for blind and partially sighted young people. By putting the family at the centre of what we do, we can put an end to the downward trajectory that blind and partially sighted young people so typically find themselves on.”
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RSBC & RLSB have merged to create a leading charity to ensure no blind child will grow up to be poor or lonely just because they are blind
— RSBC (@RSBCcharity) January 6, 2017
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.