RNIB delivers ‘largest ever’ petition to Department of Health and Social Care

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) delivered a petition signed by more than 48,000 people to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on Tuesday (24 March).

The Out of Sight petition, believed to be RNIB’s largest ever, asks for better vision rehabilitation services, including better guidelines and quality standards for vision rehabilitation, better integration of services, and a guarantee that blind and partially sighted people will be informed of their rights and the services they should expect to receive.

It also asks that vision rehabilitation should be made a regulated profession, acknowledging the skills and expertise that are required of those in the role.

Currently provision for vision rehabilitation across England is inconsistent, with some requiring support waiting more than a year for an initial assessment of their needs.

RNIB research has showed that, in 2023–2024, 85% of local authorities did not complete vision rehabilitation assessments within the RNIB’s recommended 28 days, whilst 38 local authorities said that assessments were not always conducted by qualified vision rehabilitation specialists.

A fifth (20%) of local authorities had people waiting over a year to receive an initial assessment, the charity’s research found.

RNIB has called vision rehabilitation “an under-funded Cinderella social service across England, lost amongst the many pressures facing local authorities.”

To address the situation, blind and partially sighted people gathered at Parliament Square in Westminster on Tuesday morning to take part in the half-mile ‘cane walk’ to the DHSC on Victoria Street.

The aim was to urge the Government to end the postcode lottery for vision rehabilitation services.

The group then handed over the petition, which was addressed to the Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting.

One of those who joined the cane walk was Charmaine Ashpole, from North London, who accessed vision rehabilitation after meningitis left her with a severe sight and hearing impairment in 2018.

In 2024, Ashpole told OT that vision rehabilitation is “not just a nice to have, it’s absolutely essential.”

Zute Lightfoot/RNIB

Left to right: cane users Geoff Smith, Charmaine Ashpole, Rob Sears, Frankie Brady, Claire Sisk, Mike Wordingham and Tom Skelton standing in front of the Department of Health and Social Care building in Westminster

Celebrities join the RNIB’s cane walk

Also joining the walk was Claire Sisk, a disability campaigner, content creator and TV presenter, who became an RNIB ambassador in 2024.

Sisk lost almost all her sight following two strokes in 2009, and now uses a white cane.

Sisk said: “Thousands of blind and partially sighted people are having their lives put on pause waiting for vision rehabilitation.

“When I lost my sight, vision rehabilitation helped me learn how to use my cane (which I call Rick the Stick) and get out and about again.”

She explained: “After receiving this support, my life changed so much, I was free; I had my independence back, I could be me again.

“Since then, I’ve been able to develop my career as a TV presenter and social media influencer to campaign on the issues that matter to blind people. I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this if it wasn’t for vision rehabilitation.”

Rob Sears, a sports coach and content creator, also joined Tuesday’s cane walk.

Sears has choroideremia, a genetic eye condition that means he is registered as severely sight impaired.

He received vision rehabilitation for four months after his diagnosis, including having a vision rehabilitation specialist visiting his house to help him learn to use a cane.

Sears said: “We did some sessions walking around the house, [and] walking around the block, little-by-little building my confidence.

“I certainly wouldn’t have had the confidence to do a lot of the stuff that I’ve done since without this support.”

Lives “put on pause” through lack of vision rehabilitation

Eleanor Thompson, director of policy, campaigns and social action at RNIB, called the petition handover “an important moment in our campaign.”

She said: “Over the past two years, we’ve been sharing people’s stories, and we’re so grateful to the 48,000 people who have backed our petition, both those personally affected and those who – like most of us – had never heard of vision rehabilitation before.”

Thompson added: “The Health and Care Secretary can be in no doubt that it’s time to act, so that every person with sight loss gets the support they need, when they need it.

“We know that when people don’t receive this support they often stay at home, cut themselves off from friends and family, can fall out of work or stop going about their everyday lives.”

She emphasised: “We’re here in Westminster because too many people are having their lives put on pause, unnecessarily. No one should have to wait to receive vital support after sight loss.”

Read more about the RNIB’s campaigning and policy asks around vision rehabilitation on the charity’s website.

Lead image: Charmaine Ashpole, Rob Sears, Claire Sisk, Mike Wordingham, Geoff Smith, Tom Skelton and Frankie Brady, at the start of the RNIB's 'cane walk' from Parliament Square to the Department of Health and Social care on 24 March 2026