The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, known colloquially as Guide Dogs, is a British charitable organisation founded in 1934. The Association 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.
The charity's royal patron is the Duchess of Edinburgh, who succeeded Princess Alexandra of Kent as patron in 2021.
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 2019 put income for the year at £122.2 million.
Services
Guide Dogs, historically focused on training and pairing guide dogs with adults experiencing visual impairment, expanded their services in the early 2010s to include support for children and young individuals with blindness or partial sight. In 2011, the organization introduced "My Sight Guide," a program designed to train volunteers in assisting individuals with impaired vision as their guides.
Guide dogs
The organization's guide dog service pairs blind or partially-sighted individuals with specially trained dogs, predominantly bred in-house rather than sourced externally. To ensure genetic diversity, there are instances of exchanging sperm samples with other guide dog organizations globally. The charity primarily breeds Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Curly-coated Retrievers, and standard Poodles.
Guide dog puppies are typically born and raised by volunteer breeding dog holders in a domestic setting. At six weeks old, the puppies undergo health checks and vaccinations at Guide Dogs' National Breeding Centre in Lemington Spa, Warwickshire. Subsequently, they are placed with volunteer puppy raisers who introduce them to essential obedience skills and acclimate them to various public environments, such as shops, offices, cafes, restaurants, and public transport.
Formal training for the dogs commences after 12 to 14 months and spans approximately 26 weeks, including an intensive period of three to five weeks alongside their future owners.
After a devoted service of approximately six to seven years, guide dogs retire, sometimes remaining with their owners.
There are currently 4,800 working guide dog partnerships in the UK.
Buddy dogs
Buddy dogs help children and young people who are blind or partially sighted to build confidence in themselves and trust in their surroundings. Guide Dogs piloted the service in 2011 and launched it as a permanent service in 2012. In 2020, 52 children were partnered with a buddy dog. Buddy dogs are Guide Dogs-bred dogs which haven’t qualified to become a guide dog.
My Sighted Guide
Guide Dogs first piloted its My Sighted Guide service in 2011, adopting it into the charity’s suite of services in 2012. My Sighted Guide involves connecting someone with sight loss to a trained, local volunteer to make more activities accessible. Guide Dogs can also provide sighted guiding training to the family and friends of a blind or partially sighted person.
Children and young people's services
Guide Dogs provides the following services to help children and young people with sight loss:
My Time to Play – launched in 2020, this service comprises online and face-to-face sessions to help children aged 0–4 to develop through play, and their parents can also connect with other families affected by sight loss.
My Life Skills – helps children learn skills, including navigating streets safely, preparing food, handling money and managing their appearance. In 2019 Guide Dogs helped 2,845 children through My Life Skills.
CustomEyes Books – provides books in large print, tailor-made to each child’s eye condition. In 2019, CustomEyes made 4,000 tailor-made books.
Family Events – a UK-wide programme of activity days providing the opportunity for children and parents to meet other families and access advice from Guide Dogs’ specialists. Some 1,095 people affected by sight loss attended Guide Dogs’ Family Events in 2019.