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Charity Details

 

Royal Blind

SC017167Registered charity from 16 January 1923
2MB ZIP file, with green, blue and mono style logos
2MB ZIP file, with green, blue and mono style logos
Information about this charity:
Charity Information Operations Annual Submissions Income and Expenditure Charity Trustees
Notes:
Previous legal name Royal Blind Asylum & School from 16 January 1923 to 27 March 2024.
Charity Information:
The Name the Charity is Known By Sight Scotland
Address 2A
Robertson Avenue
Edinburgh
Postcode EH11 1PZ
Website www.sightscotland.org.uk
Regulatory Type Standard
Object:
The objects of the Organisation shall be: (a) the advancement of education of the Visually Impaired; (b) the advancement of health, particularly eye health (including the prevention or relief of sickness, disease or human suffering); (c) the provision of recreational facilities, or the organisation of recreational activities, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the Visually Impaired; (d) the promotion of equality and diversity; and (e) the relief of those in need by reason of Visual Impairment (including relief given by the provision of accommodation or care).
Operations:
What the charity is set up to do and how it does this:
Sight Scotland, formerly Royal Blind, is Scotland’s largest visual impairment organisation, dedicated to addressing visual impairment challenges for over 230 years. Our services support people at all stages of sight loss and include learning services, community support, residential care, enterprise, and research funding. The Royal Blind School now serves children and young people with complex needs and offers outreach services to local authorities. The Scottish Braille Press focuses on transcribing large print and audio documents, primarily for the financial sector. Our residential care services, Forward Vision and Allermuir, and our after-school and holiday club, Kidscene, have been operating for over a decade. In more recent times, we established our Community Services, through which we are able to provide support to people within their communities and through our helpline across the whole of Scotland.
Charity Status: Active
Constitutional Form: Statutory corporation (Royal Charter etc)
Constitutional Form Date: 16 Jan 1923
Main Operating Location: City of Edinburgh
Number of Staff: 345
Number of Volunteers: 1-50
Purposes: "the advancement of education", "the advancement of health", "the provision of recreational facilities, or the organisation of recreational activities, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the persons for whom the facilities or activities are primarily intended", "the promotion of equality and diversity", "the relief of those in need by reason of age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage"
Beneficiaries: "Children or young people", "Older People", "People with disabilities or health problems"
Types Of Activity Undertaken: "It makes grants, donations, loans, gifts or pensions to individuals", "It makes grants, donations or gifts to organisations", "It carries out activities or services itself"
Annual Submissions:
Year End Income Expenditure Annual Return Received Accounts Received Latest Annual Reports and Accounts
31 Mar 2021 £19,971,000 £24,136,000 15 Dec 2021 Yes
31 Mar 2022 £12,787,000 £13,908,000 19 Dec 2022 Yes
31 Mar 2023 £13,669,000 £16,011,000 17 Jan 2024 Yes
31 Mar 2024 £17,144,000 £18,666,000 26 Sept 2024 Yes
31 Mar 2025 £21,067,000 £20,674,000 29 Oct 2025 Yes Visit Charity's Website
If an annual return has been received on time (within nine months of the Year End Date), the 'Annual Return Received' box is green   . If an annual return is late, the box is red   .
Income and Expenditure:
Charity Trustees:
First Name Last Name
Keith Swinley
David McArthur
Claire Richie
Hugh Carr
Elizabeth Porterfield MBE
Joanne Nove
Aidan McCorry
Monica Patterson
Gordon Michie
Allan Fyfe
Andrew McCall
Elaine Maben
Paul Bott
From 09 March 2026, OSCR is required by law to publish the names of a charity’s trustees as part of its Scottish Charity Register entry. We are also required to publish each charity’s annual report and accounts as received from this date, which may include the names of certain individuals. The only exceptions to publication are where a charity or one of its charity trustees applies for this information to be excluded, and OSCR is satisfied that publishing it would jeopardise the safety or security of a person or premises.

If the charity trustee information on a Register entry appears blank, this may mean that an exemption applies or that the charity has not yet provided the required details to OSCR. Supplying this information will become mandatory as part of future annual submissions.
Copyright

From 30 June 2025, OSCR began collecting charity trustee information through OSCR Online. Providing this information is a legal requirement for all charities. The names of trustees will be published on the Scottish Charity Register from early 2026 to promote transparency and strengthen public trust in the sector.

© Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator 2006. Crown Database Right 2006.

The Scottish Charity Register ("The Register") is subject to Crown database right.

The Scottish Charity Register is licenced under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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When you use this information under the OGL, you should include the following attribution: © Crown Copyright and database right 2020. Contains information from the Scottish Charity Register supplied by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.

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The Scottish Charity Register contains key information about a charity’s operations and finances. This includes:

  • the names of a charity’s trustees (exemptions apply)
  • its annual report and full accounts, if submitted after 9 March 2026
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  • a copy of the charity’s latest statement of accounts
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