By My Side 2018-2023

Our ambition is a future where every person with sight loss has the confidence and support they need to live their lives to the full. Our Future Direction and Strategy Overview explains how we aim to reach and support many more individuals over the next five years, from 200,000 people today, to 500,000 by 2023

The problems we are here to solve

Despite the devastation caused by sight loss, 70% of adults receive no support within the first 12 months of diagnosis, and are likely to encounter poor education, high unemployment, depression, loneliness and financial insecurity throughout their lifetime.

The rise in the UK’s elderly population continues to impact social care. With shortages in funding, local authorities have prioritised the services they provide, leaving the third sector under great pressure to plug gaps.

Childhood sight loss is on the increase. There are around 35,000 children and young people living with a vision impairment in the UK. Some 80% of a child’s learning takes place using vision, and every day they go without support can affect their development.

Yet we know that the public does not find our charitable cause as engaging as other causes; people fail to relate to the issue and consequently we need to work much harder to build emotional connections with the public.

More services for our customers

We will be led by the needs of our customers and will deliver services and support tailored to their specific needs.

By introducing new services, embracing new technologies, digitising some of the ways we provide services and collaborating with other charities and organisations, we will be able to support thousands more people living with sight loss than we do today.

1. Canine services
2. In-person services
3. Online and telephone service
4. Influencing and campaigning

Our Brand

As part of our By My Side Strategy, in March 2020 Guide Dogs introduced a refreshed brand positioning, tone of voice and identity. A stronger and clearly positioned brand will reach more people who can benefit from our services and help to deliver our ambitious five-year strategy – to reach and support thousands more people living with a vision impairment by 2023.  

Our brand communicates who we are, what we do and how critical our work is. We want to offer more services to the people who need us. To do this we will need to inspire even more people to support our charity as volunteers and donors, and ensure that anyone affected by sight loss knows that we can help them, whatever their need and whatever stage they are at in their sight loss journey.

Our refreshed identity will better reflect the range of services we provide, including different kinds of dog partnerships such as Companion dogs and Buddy dogs, as well as specialist services for children with sight loss. It has been designed to be more accessible, better suited to the digital platforms where more and more people now find us, and includes a sonic logo.