Catch up on our BBC Lifeline Appeal on BBC iPlayer here.
During our 50th anniversary year, we’re asking you to hear our story and our plans for the future here at Retina UK. Support us so we can continue our mission and help the thousands of people across the UK who are living with inherited sight loss. Your generous donations will go directly towards supporting our ground-breaking research projects and we're so grateful for this fantastic opportunity to showcase our vital work on the BBC.
Our BBC Lifeline Appeal aired on Sunday 16 November 2025 at 12.45pm on BBC One and it showcased the progress that Retina UK has made in the last 50 years – because of your support.
Our appeal will be repeated on Friday 21 November 2025 at 12:20pm on BBC Two.
At Retina UK, we support innovative research projects in areas such as gene therapy and photoreceptor stem cell patches, at institutions like UCL, Kings, Edinburgh University and Newcastle University – because of the donations you make.
For £50, you can pay for one hour worth of super high resolution microscopic imagery allows scientists to visualise, at an ultrastructural level, how light sensing photoreceptors are damaged in RP (retinitis pigmentosa).
With your support during our special anniversary year, we can continue to give real momentum to this important research.
Since Retina UK was formed 5 decades ago, we have invested £18 million into research projects and achieved so much together. We still need your help to leap forward with more cutting-edge research and continue to give hope to the whole inherited sight loss community, so please tune in to our BBC Lifeline Appeal and support us if you can.
If you have any queries regarding our BBC Lifeline Appeal or would like to support our work in another way, please get in touch on [email protected] or 01280 815900.
Thank you for your incredible, continued support of Retina UK.
We are here for you
If you have been affected by our appeal and would like to access information and support about inherited sight loss conditions, please call our Helpline on 0300 111 4000.