The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

"Guide Dogs" redirects here. For other uses, see guide dog.

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
AbbreviationGuide Dogs
Formation30 August 1934; 90 years ago (1934-08-30)[1]
TypeCharity
Isabel Hudson
Andrew Lennox
Staff
1,500
Volunteers
14,000
Websiteguidedogs.org.uk

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, known colloquially as Guide Dogs, is a British charitable organisation[2] that uses guide dogs to help blind and partially blind people. The organisation also participates in political activism for the rights of those with vision impairments.[3]

The charity's royal patron is the Duchess of Edinburgh, who succeeded Princess Alexandra of Kent as patron in 2021.[4]

The head office is near Reading in Berkshire. The charity has eight regional centres in Belfast, Cardiff, Forfar, Leeds, Atherton, Leamington Spa, Redbridge and Bristol. The regional centres in Forfar, Atherton, Leamington and Redbridge are also guide dog training schools. There are a further 14 community teams in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Hull, Liverpool, Nottingham, Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Welwyn, central London, Maidstone, Reading (based at head office), Southampton and Exeter. There is also a National Breeding Centre near Leamington Spa.

The charity's filed accounts for the year ending December 2022 put income for the year at £142.2 million.[5]

  1. ^ "GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND ASSOCIATION (THE) - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Echo2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "What we do". Guide Dogs Site. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Countess of Wessex and Princess Alexandra attend Joint Engagement for Guide Dogs". Crown Chronicles. 11 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  5. ^ "THE GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND ASSOCIATION - Charity 209617". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2023.