Accelerating Impact Award

Henshaws

This partnership between Henshaws and Manchester Royal Eye Hospital has reframed CVI registration from a passive clinical process into a proactive support pathway that changes lives. Every CVI issued now triggers a structured series of follow-ups from Henshaws at four weeks, three months, six months and twelve months. Support is person-centred, consistent and based on individual need, including emotional reassurance, advice on benefits, access to assistive technology and referrals into wider services.

The pathway is fully embedded into hospital systems, requiring no self-referral. Feedback shows people feel reassured, understood and confident at a moment that previously left many feeling lost. NHS partners report reduced duplication, earlier engagement and increased trust in voluntary sector delivery. Every certificate now connects someone directly to support.

Evaluation by Alliance Manchester Business School has evidenced a social return of £13.54 for every £1 invested. The service has become a permanent part of Manchester Royal Eye Hospital’s business-as-usual care, with support from nursing leadership and ambitions for national rollout. By integrating into statutory systems, this project has delivered measurable reach, system change and personal impact. It is a scalable model of how early intervention, collaboration and trust can reshape a critical moment in the sight loss journey.

MySight York

Vote for MySight York (Community Connect)

Community Connect is changing lives…and changing York. Led by people with sight loss, this project is making the city more inclusive, one organisation at a time.

Over 200 blind and partially sighted people have joined in with adapted sport, sensory storytelling, museum tours, tech support and more. 60 have stepped forward as member consultants, helping shape local services. Thousands more have benefited from accessible social media training, with inclusive posts reaching people across the UK and beyond.

At the heart of it all is a Sight Loss Friendly Status; a charter mark of trust and quality that shows a venue or organisation has been trained, audited and approved by MySight York. It tells anyone with sight loss: you’re welcome here.

Community Connect isn’t a one-off event, it’s a lasting legacy. It gives people confidence, builds partnerships, and sets a standard that can be shared nationwide.

If you believe in inclusion, in lived experience, and in communities that work for everyone, please vote for MySight York. Your vote will help us grow this movement and make even more places truly Sight Loss Friendly.

Sense Ability Matters

A collaboration between three local charities was established to share learning and maximise the impact of services for disabled people, people with learning disabilities, autism and neurodiversity, blind and partially sighted people, and people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.

A year into the project, one partner was facing financial difficulties. Following an approach by their Trustees, we pursued options to ensure that their services for disabled people continued. In 2024 our members voted in favour of extending our charitable objectives and we rebranded as Sense Ability Matters (SAM).

The expansion and collaboration has led to SAM;

• leveraging further investment to support disability services, ensuring greater provision for more people; £560,000 grant funding, and a 5 year Advocacy contract.
• enabling more people with lived experience to co-create services, improve health pathways and increase access to local services; over 1000 people actively engaged since June 2021.
• reducing health inequalities and improving outcomes for disabled people and people with sight loss. Outcomes reported by beneficiaries are;
  • Able to live more independently = 95%
  • Feeling less isolated = 94%
  • Feeling more confident and empowered = 96%
  • Improved emotional health & wellbeing = 96%.