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Our Impact in 2024-25

SeeAbility (formerly The Royal School for the Blind, founded 1799) is a specialist charity providing support, accommodation and eye care for people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss. In its 225th anniversary year (2024/25), SeeAbility reached 73,843 people, delivered 3,483 sight tests in special schools, and secured a government commitment of £12 million to roll out the special schools eye care service nationally. Income was £36.5 million with expenditure of £35.9 million, generating a small surplus.

Report snapshot
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About

Specialist residential and supported living care; special schools eye care service; Eye Care Champions programme; Ready Willing and Able supported employment; Listen Up! self-advocacy team; outreach and day services

Key Metrics

Key Metric 1 73,843 lives changed by SeeAbility's support teams, specialist programmes and resources in 2024/25
Key Metric 2 3,483 sight tests delivered to children in special schools; 4,769 people trained by Eye Care Champion teams
Key Metric 3 34 people supported along their employment journey by Ready, Willing and Able; 7 secured paid employment earning over £130,000 in total

Key Outcomes

  • NHS England allocated £12 million to roll out special schools eye care service to all special schools — a landmark policy win directly secured by SeeAbility's campaigning
  • 94% of people supported and 91% of family and friends rated SeeAbility's support as good or very good; 100% of homes rated Good by CQC
  • 6,812 people influenced by Listen Up! team; 68 people supported to vote in the General Election, many for the first time

Geography

South East

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
Total income £18,180,000 and total expenditure £18,560,000 (year ended 31 December 2024, charity no. 1084958 England/Wales and SC039654 Scotland); in 2024 spent £3.8m on...
Key Metric 2
700+ members supported through in-person visits and support calls in 2025; 697 support grants allocated in 2025 for essential items including specialist clothing, cooling...
Key Metric 3
Largest global investment in EB research to date: multi-million-pound drug repurposing trial provisionally agreed with LifeArc partner at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation...
£34,000 raised in 2025 winter appeal supporting families like Darcie's with specialist items, emotional support and research; 697 support grants delivered in 2025; first Members Connect event in Northern Ireland; EB Priorities Setting Partnership study completed providing global research roadmap
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
22,507 households helped through RBL casework and specialist support services across 66 countries
Key Metric 2
22,600 grants given to those in need, totalling £11.8 million
Key Metric 3
733 beneficiaries represented at tribunals, resulting in £24.5 million in War Pensions awards
1,548 new families living with dementia supported by RBL Admiral Nurses service
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
3,600 blind veterans received support across the UK; 447 new blind veterans started receiving support in 2024/25
Key Metric 2
1,598 referrals to rehabilitation services completed; 313 veterans received assistive technology training
Key Metric 3
997 volunteers donated 26,824 hours of support; befriending service awarded Quality in Befriending Excellence — one of only 11 organisations in the UK to...
1,831 National Creative Wellbeing Project packs issued to help veterans reconnect with creativity and independence
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
349,000+ people completed the Know Your Risk tool to assess their risk of type 2 diabetes in 2024
Key Metric 2
£4 million invested in 17 new research projects; total active grants portfolio worth over £45 million
Key Metric 3
32% of people completing NHS England's Path to Remission programme — which Diabetes UK campaigned for — put their type 2 diabetes into remission
Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge invested over £23 million in 19 projects across 161 experts from 47 institutions in 8 countries since 2022