Who can apply for a grant from us?

You must:

1. be resident in the UK
2. be registered with your local authority as blind (“severely sight impaired”) or partially sighted (“sight impaired”) unless you are applying on behalf of a child who has not yet had their sight loss certified or registered
3. receive a means-tested benefit and one that is not a Tax Credit.
4. have been refused funding from your local authority for the items you need
5. have savings of less than £6,000
6. not have had a grant from us in the last three years

Which benefits are means tested?

1. Council Tax Support, Housing Benefit, Income Support, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Pension Credit and Universal Credit.
2. Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Attendance Allowance (AA) are not means-tested benefits. Neither are the forms of Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance that are contribution based.

Items we consider applications for

• Talking phones, accessible smartphones, accessible tablets and e-readers (£400 maximum)
• Big button or talking landline telephones and accessibility accessories (£100 maximum)
• Computer accessibility software (£500 maximum)
• Electronic Braille Displays and note takers (£500 maximum)
• Portable handheld video magnifiers (£500 maximum)
• DAISY players and USB players (£300 maximum)
• Smart home devices and accessories (£150 maximum)
• Wearable technology including health and fitness devices (£200 maximum)
• Voice recorders and dicta phones (£150 maximum)
• Accessible kitchen equipment including talking microwaves, talking scales and talking measuring jug
• Talking watches and clocks (£80 maximum)
• RNIB’s Penfriend 3 labelling device plus any spare labels and Talking colour detectors

You will need to be registered and logged in to use this service

To apply for a grant, use the Grant Application Form. If you have started an application, follow My Enquiries to complete the application