Other Support Groups

• Patients
• Charities
• Other Support Groups

This list has been adopted and modified with permission from the Moorfields Eye Hospital and The Royal College of Ophthalmologists website.

• Action For Blind People: a national charity with local reach, providing practical help and support to blind and partially sighted people of all ages.

• Action Medical Research: aims to prevent and treat disease and disability by funding vital medical research in hospitals or research institutions across the UK.

• Albinism Fellowship: provides information, advice and support for people with albinism, their families and professionals working with people with this condition.
  

• Alstrom Syndrome UK: supports people with Alström Syndrome and their carers.

• AMD Alliance: strives to bring knowledge, help and hope to individuals and families around the world affected by AMD.
  

• Association of Blind Piano Tuners:
 serves the professional and particular needs of its members and other blind and partially sighted piano tuners throughout the world.

  

• Behcet’s Syndrome Society: the official UK patient support group for people with Behcet’s disease.
  

• Birdshot Uveitis Society: a support group for people with the rare, hard-to treat, autoimmune, posterior uveitis called Birdshot Chorioretinopathy. 

  

• Birmingham Eye Foundation: promotes and advances the study and general knowledge of Ophthalmology. Specifically, the Foundation supports the Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of Birmingham.

• British Blind Sport: provides sporting opportunities for blind and partially sighted people.
  

• British Computer Association of the Blind: an organisation of visually impaired people who use information and communications technology.

  

• British Council for the Prevention of Blindness: focuses on funding research, including Fellowships, which has the potential to make breakthroughs in understanding and treating currently incurable eye diseases, and on operational research to improve best practice and delivery of eye care services.

• British Wireless for the Blind Fund:
 provides, on a permanent free loan basis, radios, radio cassette recorders and CD radio cassette recorders, to UK registered blind people, over the age of eight and who are in need.

  

• Calibre: provides a subscription-free service of unabridged audio books for adults and children with sight problems, dyslexia or other disabilities, who cannot read print.
  

• C22C: a parent run support organization for families affected by many different chromosome 22 disorders.

• Childhood Eye Cancer Trust: offers support, funds research and raises awareness among families and individuals affected by retinoblastoma.

• Christian Blind Mission:
 reaches out to people who face living in poverty with a disability.

• Clear labelling: a pressure group for visually impaired people that aims to persuade UK retailers to produce more accessible labelling on their product packaging.

  

• Contact a Family: provides support, advice and information for families with disabled children.

• Deafblind UK:
 specialises in meeting the needs and developing the potential of adults who are both deafblind.
  

• Diabetes UK: works with people with diabetes, funding research, campaigning and helping people live with the condition.

• Down’s Syndrome Association: provides information and support on all aspects of living with Down’s syndrome to all who need it.
  

• Dystonia Society:
 provides information and support for people with blepharospasm and facial dystonia.

  

• Ehlers-Danlos Support UK: supports people who suffer from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS).
  

• Eye Cancer Network:
 an educational site dedicated to helping eye tumour patents find information about their condition and treatment, and providing support for patients and their families.

  

• Eyehope: funds research into all causes of sight loss, no matter how rare.
  

• Eyeless Trust UK: helps children suffering from anophthalmia, microphthalmia or coloboma.

  

• Eyesite: unique internet resource designed especially for children and young people, promoting eye health and giving information about eye conditions and diseases.
  

• Fight For Sight: raises funds to support medical research into a wide-range of eye conditions.

• Fighting Blindness: funds research into cures and treatments for blindness. It also provides a unique professional counselling centre for people with visual impairments and their families.

• Focus Birmingham: offers a range of services and resources that are designed to support independence and facilitate people with visual impairments and other disabilities to lead fulfilling lives.
  

• Genetic Alliance UK: supports all those affected by genetic conditions.
  

• Gift of Sight: funds research into a range of diseases that cause blindness.

• Guide Dogs for the Blind: promotes the health, equality and independence of blind and partially sighted people.

• Henshaws Society for Blind People: provides support, advice and training to anyone affected by sight loss and other disabilities to develop the skills and independence they need to lead lives that are as full as possible.

• International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB): works to encourage the formation of national prevention of blindness committees and programmes, led by governments with input from the WHO, local and international non-governmental organisations.

• International Glaucoma Association (IGA): a charity for people with glaucoma, with the mission to raise awareness of glaucoma, promote research related to early diagnosis and treatment and to provide support to patients and all those who care for them.

• International Trachoma Initiative:
 campaigns to eliminate the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness.

• Laurence-Moon-Bardet-Biedl Society: the only registered charity supporting people with Laurence-Moon-Bardet-Biedl Syndrome, their families and carers.

• LOOK: supports parents and carers of children with visual impairment.

• Macular Society: provides support, advice and information for anyone affected by age-related macular degeneration, macular disease or macular conditions.
  

• Marfan’s Association UK: increases awareness amongst the medical profession, thus saving lives through early diagnosis, whilst providing support for patients, their families and medical professionals around the world.
  

• Micro & Anophthalmic Childrens Society (MACS): supports children born without eyes or with underdeveloped eyes.

• National Blind Children’s Society: supports parents and children with a visual impairment all the way from diagnosis to adulthood.

  

• NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme: provides information on Diabetic Retinopathy and the Diabetic Eye Screening Programme.
• Nutritionist Resource: Nutritionist Resource offers a simple way to connect with professional nutritionists, nutritional therapists and dietitians across the UK.

• Northern Ireland Chest, Heart And Stroke: works for the prevention and alleviation of chest, heart and stroke illnesses in Northern Ireland.

• Nystagmus Network: the leading patient information, support and scientific research charity for nystagmus in Europe.

• Olivia’s Vision: provides patient support to uveitis sufferers and their families. Raises awareness of uveitis and funds to sponsor uveitis fellowships.

• Oneclearvision: raises awareness and promotes a better understanding of eye floaters, provides information and support to sufferers and collaborates with eye specialists and researches to help achieve clear sight for everyone affected.

• Orbis: prevents and treats blindness by providing quality eye care to transform lives.

• PIC Society: aims to promote awareness of this eyesight condition, exchange views, and help and support each other.
  

• PiXiE: supports sufferers of Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum.
  

• Polymyalgia Rheumatica And Giant Cell Arteritis UK: aims to meet the needs of people with these debilitating conditions, their friends, families and helping professionals.
  

• Polymyalgia Rheumatica And Giant Cell Arteritis Scotland: raises awareness of this much neglected group of sufferers, gives research some momentum and increases the understanding of others and of other disciplines in the medical profession.
  

• Ridley Eye Foundation: supports initiatives in developing countries concentrating on cataract surgery.

• RobboBraile: an email service which can convert digital text documents into either Braille or audio files.

• Royal London Society for the Blind: offers education, training and employment services to people with a visual impairment.

  

• Royal National College for the Blind: the UK’s leading college of further education and training for people (16+) who are blind or partially sighted.

  

• Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB): offers information, support and advice to people with sight loss.

• RP Fighting Blindness: seeks to help its members live with and overcome their visual problems and to bring relief by stimulating research into the causes, and eventually the treatment of RP.

  

• SeeAbility: encourages people who are blind or partially sighted and have other multiple disabilities to achieve their full potential and enhance their quality of life.

• Sense: supports and campaigns for people who are deafblind.

  

• Sight Savers International: works with partners to eliminate avoidable blindness and promote equality of opportunity for disabled people in the developing world.

• SILA – The Sarcoidosis Charity: helps people with Sarcoidosis.
  

• Stickler Syndrome Support Group: provides information for families, healthcare and medical professionals affected by or caring for people with Stickler Syndrome.
  

• Stroke Association: funds research and provides a growing network of support services.
  

• Talking Newspaper Association of the UK:
 provides newspapers and magazines in alternative formats to print for the visually impaired and disabled.

  

• The British Sjogren’s Syndrome Association: raises awareness of the disease and support research into its cause and treatment.
  

• The British Thyroid Foundation: supports people with thyroid disorders and helping their families and people around them to understand the condition.
  

• The Keratoconus Group:
 provides information and support to people with keratoconus.

• The Neuro Foundation: improves the lives of those affected by Neurofibromatosis.
  

• The Partially Sighted Society: offers a range of services, including catering for education, employment, social, domestic and leisure needs.

• The Thyroid Eye Disease Charitable Trust: aims to provide information, care and support to those affected by thyroid eye disease.
• Therapy Directory: Promotes the benefits of complementary therapy and provides a searchable directory of therapists in your area. All listed therapists have provided the directory with their qualifications and insurance cover or proof of membership with a professional body.

• Thomas Pocklington Trust: invests in a research and development programme which aims to identify practical ways to improve the lives of people who are blind or have sight loss by improving social inclusion, independence and quality of life, and improving and developing service outcomes as well as focusing on public health issues.

• Tommy’s: funds research into stillbirth, premature birth and miscarriage and provides information for parents-to-be. It also provides information on Toxoplasmosis.
  

• Torch Trust: aims to enable people with sight loss to discover Christian faith and lead fulfilling Christian lives.

• Uveitis Information Group (Scotland): a patient led charity run by volunteers who suffer from uveitis.

• UK Keratoconus Self Help And Support Association: works to raise awareness o Keratoconus and provides information and support for people with Keratoconus in The UK. It also raises money for research.
  

• Vision 2020: the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, a joint programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) with an international membership of NGOs, professional associations, eye care institutions and corporations.

• Vision 2020 UK: facilitates greater collaboration and co-operation between organisations in the UK which focus on visual impairment and operate on a national, regional or international basis.

• VocalEyes: nationwide audio description charity, providing access to the arts for blind and partially sighted people.

• World Sight Foundation: aims to deliver sustainable solutions for the alleviation of blindness, and for preserving sight, anywhere in the world. The WSF works to enhance the skills of locally-based eye care professionals through education.

BMEC is not responsible for the information on external websites.