Our impact

The generous support of our donors is having an incredible impact on the lives of people affected by sight loss. With their support, our charity has continued to grow, enabling us to fund even more life-changing research, education and innovation.

In July 2025, we published our latest impact report, which reflects on our progress against our strategic goals over the first four years of our current strategy.

Across the last four years, Moorfields Eye Charity awarded 263 grants worth almost £60 million to support research, innovation in patient care, staff wellbeing and training at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and other leading research institutions.

The charity’s support of advances in research and innovation is benefitting patients at Moorfields and people with sight loss in the UK and globally.

In the report, you’ll hear from Professor James Bainbridge, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and professor of retinal studies at UCL, about the impact that early seed funding from the charity had on shaping a gene therapy programme that progressed from discovery research to clinical trials. 

We also feature a mobile sensory device that is transforming care for children at the Moorfields Eye Centre at Croydon University Hospital. Kirsten Addison is a play leader at the Croydon University Hospital who supports children attending eye appointments. She explained how challenging it can be for children during eye tests, when the lights are dimmed. 

“The second you go into optometry or paediatrics, the rooms become dark, and a lot of children are afraid,” she said. ​“It’s hard to transition a child from the playroom to the clinic.”

The sensory trolley provides gentle light, sound and texture to create a soothing atmosphere. 

Since Moorfields Eye Charity was established almost 15 years ago, one of our key priorities has been to make the new integrated centre for advancing eye health a reality. 

Working in partnership with Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology on this joint initiative, we are committed to creating a new state-of-the-art eye health centre that will deliver world-leading research, education and innovation which accelerates the development of new treatments to transform the lives of people with sight loss in the UK and globally.

In 2024/25, the new centre made remarkable progress. The building construction reached its highest point in December 2024, which was celebrated with a traditional ​‘topping out’ ceremony. And in the early months of 2025, the building’s façade and roofing began to be added. You can read more about our progress in the report.

Another highlight from the report features an innovative patient communication tool, known as Explain.Health. The project, supported by Moorfields Eye Charity, aims to offer clear and easy-to-understand information to patients via an app. Patients can either upload or take a picture of their letters on the Explain.Health platform, which offers a definition of each of the medical terms in the letter, using an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm.

“We designed the platform to simplify technical jargon, linking patients to trusted NHS resources for clearer explanations,” said Dr Dayyanah Sumodhee, a health psychologist and senior research fellow at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology.

Our supporters and donors are crucial to our success. Their generous support enables us to fund the research, education and innovation needed to create a positive change for those affected by sight loss. 

So, to everyone who has donated, fundraised, volunteered or championed our charity’s work, we give our heartfelt thanks. Your support is making a real difference.