Twice a year IRLA members come together in large numbers at two particular events, and have the opportunity to support the Associations chosen charity.

The Annual Dinner in November 2023 held in London and Congress May 2024, staged in Brighton, are the ideal mix of business and fun through which our members can 'give back' to this cause.

We recognise that individuals will seek to give to their own personal and local charitable choices throughout the year, but this is one way in which we can encourage shared giving throughout 12 months of a membership cycle.

For 2023, IRLA members chose the Guide Dogs charity.

Funds from headsntails at the Annual Dinner, a Sussex cheese tour in May 2024 and a London to Brighton cycle event (also May) will all contribute to this one common cause.

Almost two million people in the UK are living with sight loss that has a significant impact on their daily lives. Of those, around 180,000 rarely leave their homes alone and lead lonely, isolated lives.

Guide Dogs works for a world where people with sight loss are never left out of life, for a world where being blind or partially sighted is not what defines you. A world with enough support to make the challenges of sight loss no barrier to fulfilling hopes and dreams.