The Spectacle Makers Charity grants six awards to organisations working with vision across the UK

We are delighted to announce we have awarded our grants in February 2021 to various charities working toward better vision for all across the UK.

Our first research award was granted this year to Fight for Sight, the leading UK charity dedicated to stopping sight loss through pioneering research. Our £7,500 grant will go toward a 12-month pilot Glaucoma study at Cardiff University investigating the effects of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) on retinal ganglion cells.

The further five grants were shared among five charities spread throughout the UK for specific projects. We will enable:

• Seeability to help visually impaired and other disabled individuals to seek employment opportunities in the tough post-pandemic economy;
• Sense Scotland to provide an outdoor space for their group of disabled young adults to meet safely outside;
• Kent Association for the Blind to purchase and equip a mobile information station to reach more people in their community
• Baluji Music Foundation to provide musical workshops for blind and vision-impaired people and performance opportunities for blind musicians
• Extant to work with small and medium-sized venues on supporting greater access to theatre for vision-impaired people
• Throughout 2021 our chosen charities will be sharing stories of how our grants have impacted the lives of those benefiting from each cause. Watch this space!

There will be further opportunity to receive funding from the Spectacle Makers’ Charity in June, September and December. Please apply via this form.