The RS Macdonald Charitable Trust

The RS Macdonald Charitable Trust provides grants and support to charities working in Scotland, and our funding is allocated across a number of themes, one of which is to support people who are blind or visually impaired.  Those people are affected in a number of ways, depending on their age and stage of development.

 For children and young people, this includes learning to communicate and being heard, and access to education.  For working age people, elements of living an independent life and being able to work or volunteer are prioritised.  In older age, and with sight deterioration, comes concerns about being able to get out, being able to access technology and making best use of any sight left will help maintain people’s sense of wellbeing and quality of life. 

Alongside grants to support these charities, we also provide funding for medical research into visual impairment and sight loss.  We fund the SCONe project within this remit.  We recognise the strength of the collaborative approach across the partners to build a Scottish dataset of retinal images as a national bioresource.  Being an early investor in this ambitious work, we recognise its ability to add value to the existing Scottish primary eye care programme.

Integration of retinal imaging services could help answer key questions around age related macular degeneration, the leading cause of sight loss in the UK.  The funding of this project will help develop the ambition to allow an optometrist’s imaging to be linked to health records, and would promote accurate referrals, faster diagnosis and cost effectiveness in the pathway between community and hospital care.  The work of SCONe is envisaged to deliver a clinical impact for AMD patients while opening academic opportunities for optometry and ophthalmology.