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Following the decision of three charities involved in working towards preventing blindness, David Blunkett, the former Labour home secretary, has agreed to work for the organisations as an independent chairman.
David Blunkett, a well known and familiar face in UK politics, was born in a severely deprived district in Sheffield with blindness. His rise in the Labour party saw him oversee educational duties before becoming home secretary in 2001 following the general election. His blindness came from being born with underdeveloped optic nerves due to a rare genetic disorder.
The collaboration of charities sees Action for Blind People, See Ability and RNIB joining forces to help in the prevention of blindness. The Chief Executive Officers of each organisation will liaise with Mr Blunkett as they look to improve and sustain services for the blind and partially sighted members of UK society. The former home secretary's role will see him offering support and advice while also looking to explore new avenues in care. The fact that a name as high profile as Mr Blunkett's has been attributed to this collaboration should also see greater public awareness and the charities themselves achieve a heightened recognisation in the media and amongst the general public. Initial discussions and developments are expected to continue into October 2012 as the charities look to work more closely together, pooling resources, with the hope of streamlining and supporting each others aims, as directed by the UK Vision Strategy.