In 2014 my son James lost his sight following an operation to remove a tumour on his optic nerve. He has since regained a significant part of his sight but during the first months following the operation, the staff and volunteers from Guide Dogs assessed James for the possibility of having a dog and were wonderful in offering support and advice for the best ways of adapting to living with sight loss. James has now recovered enough not to need a guide dog but for so many they offer both independence and companionship.

Almost two million people in the UK are living with sight loss that has a significant impact on their daily lives. Of those, around 180,000 rarely leave their homes alone and lead lonely, isolated lives. Guide Dogs works for a world where people with sight loss are never left out of life, for a world where being blind or partially sighted is not what defines you. A world with enough support to make the challenges of sight loss no barrier to fulfilling hopes and dreams.