About Guide Dogs

About Guide Dogs

The ability to get around is vital in order to live a full life yet thousands of blind and partially-sighted people never leave home alone. Guide Dogs empowers visually-impaired people to do that and relies on the support of the public to fund its services.

We breed and train guide dogs which provide life changing mobility and there are currently 4,500 working guide dog partnerships in the UK. Guide dog owners only have to pay a nominal 50p for their dog to ensure no-one is prevented from having one due to a lack of funds. The full lifetime cost of a guide dog from birth to retirement is £49,800.

We also provide a range of mobility and other rehabilitation services such as white cane training as well as campaigning passionately to break down barriers – both physical and legal – to enable blind and partially-sighted people to get around on their own.

Guide Dogs' Vision
We want a society in which blind and partially-sighted people enjoy the same freedom of movement as everyone else.

Guide Dogs' Purpose
We will deliver the guide dog service and other mobility services, as well as breaking down barriers – both physical and legal – to enable blind and partially-sighted people to get around on their own.

Read more about the history of guide dogs and how the charity began, 25 things you should know about Guide Dogs or some of our case studies.