Our Impact
There is no doubt that increasing financial pressures on our economy, on our local authorities and social services and on the charity sector are expected to continue. This means, Vista must do two things; ensure any services that run are not making a loss and secondly invest in our fundraising so that our supporters find it easy to support us and feel valued when they do. Tight management of our funds, only reflects what many of us are doing at home, and will ensure our services will continue well in to the future.
People affected by sight loss told us three areas of work would make the biggest difference to areas of their lives that cause real barriers to living well:
1. Peer support from others in the same situation.
2. Opportunities to learn from experts.
3. Practical help and support to enable individuals to live a life with confidence.
People affected by sight loss tell us when they met experts and other people in the same situation, be it a parent of a child with sight loss, or someone coming to terms with a change in their visual impairment, Vista’s role in providing access to the right support at the right time makes a life changing difference.
We plan to expand our network of support, particularly around areas of extra challenge (like being newly diagnosed, transitions like leaving school or starting work, or confidence in getting out and about), over the next three years.
With a lack of a national approach to eye screening and raising awareness of how to prevent sight loss so many people can keep their sight for longer, we’ll be launching our eye screening and awareness raising programme, with a real focus on understanding our impact across the region, and sharing our learnings across the UK.
We’ll be making sure Vista is at the heart of local decision making, improving access and removing barriers so LLR is a place where people with sight loss are valued and included.
Last year from April 2024 to March 2025 Vista supported 21,500 people, with 93% of service users telling us our services resulted in increased independence, personal choice and greater autonomy. Nearly 400 people accessed our children and young people service resulting in 100% feeling better supported, benefitting from enhanced access to information and experienced reduced anxiety.
At the heart of our plan, is the voice of people affected by sight loss. We’ve made increased efforts to hear from a wider pool of people, not just those that regularly engage with Vista. We plan to ensure in all our decision making, visually impaired people are leading, guiding and involved every step of the way.
You can find a copy of our Strategy, our most recent Annual Report, and an outline of our Vision, Mission and Values linked below.
If you have a comment or question about our future plans, email us on governance@vistablind.org.uk.