Our community support us in many different ways, from completing surveys, volunteering, raising awareness and fundraising.
This is a small selection of supporter stories. If you have a story to tell, we would love to hear from you. Please email info@RetinaUK.org.uk and we'll get in touch to capture your tale.
Bhavini was diagnosed with RP in 1997 aged 17. The consultant who confirmed her diagnosis told her that “there was no cure or treatment and she should prepare to go blind".
James was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at a routine eye test and then later registered partially sighted at the age of 20, just prior to buying his first car and taking his driving test.
My name is Mark Baxter and from an early age I was diagnosed with a deteriorating retinal eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa or RP for short, which will slowly lead to blindness.
Martin talks about his experience with genetic testing and counselling.
Rachel first noticed she had sight problems at the age of 15. She went to her local eye clinic, who said she had an astigmatism.
Russ was diagnosed with Choroideremia at the age of 11, after visiting caves in Spain and not being able to see anything.
Simon talks about his experience of genetic testing and counselling.
Emily Kearney is mum to four boys, aged four to 13, two of whom are living with an inherited sight loss condition.
“Being part of something and feeling that you are not alone,” are just two of the positive benefits Cindy Peacock says she experiences as a volunteer with Retina UK.
Our amazing volunteers are diverse in age, background and ethnicity. The one thing they have in common is that they are all living with, or directly affected by, an inherited sight loss condition.
Steve has been volunteering for Retina UK since its formation in 1976 and has been a part of the Helpline team since the early 1980s.. He remembers very well a caller named Khadeja, who called the Helpline multiple times, following her diagnosis with RP in 1999.
