The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
 Guide Dogs logo | |
| Abbreviation | Guide Dogs |
|---|---|
| Formation | 30 August 1934 |
| Type | Charity |
| Headquarters | Hillfields, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 3YG |
Region served | United Kingdom |
| Isabel Hudson | |
| Andrew Lennox | |
| Staff | 1,500 |
| Volunteers | 14,000 |
| Website | guidedogs |
purpose. It should be removed.The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, often known as Guide Dogs, is a British charitable organization that provides guide dogs to those who are vision impaired. The organisation also engages in public campaigns and advocacy to promote accessibility and disability rights for those with vision impairments. Guide Dogs works with more than 28,000 volunteer advocates across the UK to support these issues.
The charity's royal patron is the Duchess of Edinburgh, who succeeded Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy as patron in 2021. Its head office is near Reading in Berkshire. The charity operates eight regional centres in Belfast, Cardiff, Forfar, Leeds, Atherton, Leamington Spa, Redbridge and Bristol. Four of these regional centres (Forfar, Atherton, Leamington, and Redbridge) are also established as guide dog training schools. Along with that, there are 14 community teams in Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Nottingham, Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Welwyn, central London, Maidstone, Reading, Southampton and Exeter. There is also a National Breeding Centre near Leamington Spa.
In 2023 and 2024, the charity reduced staff numbers and stopped an IT project, to minimise costs in order to keep its services running.