Helping people find their lives again - RNIB

people with sight problems. We also work
closely with other disability charities on issues
of mutual concern. We deliver services in
partnership with some societies for blind and
partially sighted people, and some of our
funding comes from charities and trusts which
support our aims.
On 1 April 2009, RNIB and Action for Blind
People officially joined forces in an
Association to share resources, skills and
expertise to engage and reach more blind and
partially sighted people with even better
services. The two organisations will combine
regional service delivery across England whilst
maintaining their individual brand identities,
boards of trustees and strategic management
teams. The Association will radically improve
what is currently available to blind and
partially sighted people.
On 2 June 2009, RNIB Cymru and Cardiff
Institute for the Blind joined forces to develop
and expand services for people with sight
problems. Cardiff Institute for the Blind will be
an Associate charity of RNIB, and whilst the
two organisations will retain their separate
identities they will be united in developing
services and expanding the support provided
to people with sight problems. This exciting
move will enable us to extend the range and
reach of services and support for people with
sight problems for people who live in Cardiff,
the Vale of Glamorgan, and the South Wales
Valleys.
Changes to the way we are managed
from April 2009
Over the last year, we have developed RNIB’s
governance structures to fully support the
new 2009/14 strategy.
The Board of Trustees will continue to be the
supreme decision making body of the RNIB
Group, meeting 4 times a year from 2010. A
number of the functional committees such as
Executive, Audit and Governance will
continue, but the three main service
committees – Access and Innovation; Policy
and Advocacy and Direct Services – will be
replaced. The implementation of the 2009/14
strategy will be supported by six programme
boards:
l Prevention.
l Early reach.
l Living with sight loss.
l Complex needs.
l Travel, shopping and control of money.
l Reading, TV and technology.
There will also be a programme board to
support the funding of our new strategy,
replacing the Fundraising Sub-Committee.
The broad purpose of the programme boards,
chaired by Trustees, is to drive programmes of
work forward and to ensure the delivery of the
goals of the 2009/14 strategy.
There will also be changes to the Assembly,
which will meet for the last time on 23 July
2009. Two new bodies are being created:
l RNIB UK Members Forum, which will be
supported by nine regional and three
country (Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland) forums. The development of these
forums support the desire to develop
RNIB’s Membership Scheme and to keep
our members at the heart of what we do.
l Third Sector Forum, RNIB are supporting
the creation of this forum for national
organisations “of” and “for” blind and
partially sighted people, which will, in
particular, contribute to the development
and implementation of the UK Vision
Strategy.
6 RNIB annual report and accounts 2008/09