Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is a charity close to the hearts of the UK public. Guide dogs have been bringing independence and mobility to blind and partially sighted people for 80 years with such success that there are now more than 4,700 guide dog partnerships in the UK.

It's not just about partnering a guide dog with someone who's visually impaired. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association breeds around 1,000 puppies every year which are then looked after for a year before working with specialist trainers. The training takes approximately six months including several weeks with the new owner. A guide dog's working life is between six and seven years and it's not uncommon for someone to own a number of guide dogs during their lifetime.

The guide dog service receives no government funding and relies solely on public support. With each working guide dog partnership costing £5 per day and the lifetime cost of each dog as much as £50,000, the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association depend on every single donation. That coupled with the costs of maintaining a National Breeding Centre and specialist Guide Dog training schools means your donations are ever more vital so that they can continue their good work.

Creating a fairer society for blind and partially sighted people!

How your donations to Guide Dogs for the Blind Association will be used?

You might think that your donations just go towards supporting a guide dog through its training and partnering the dog with a visually impaired person but the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association are supporting the guide dog throughout its life as well as campaigning on behalf of blind and partially sighted people:

• Breeding guide dogs at the National Breeding Centre
• Training guide dogs at specialist Guide Dog training schools
• Supporting working guide dog partnerships
• Campaigning on access and mobility issues that affect the visually impaired
• Educating the public about eye protection
• Funding research into eye diseases so that complete sight loss may be prevented
• Working with UK councils to ensure streets are safe to the public

You can support the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association either by donationg directly, fundraising, volunteering, campaigning or by joining in local and national fundraising events.

Help the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association create a society in which blind and partially sighted people enjoy the same freedom of movement as everyone else!