The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH has been a Vice President of SeeAbility since 2013. Sir John first became involved with SeeAbility when he joined our 200th Birthday Party Celebration in 1999 at his beloved Chelsea football club. Dame Norma then visited our unique Heather House and the couple’s interest in SeeAbility grew.

In 2006, Sir John accepted the new role of Patron of SeeAbility's Sight Pioneers which he held for six years. During this period he kindly hosted annual dinners, inspiring our major donors and sharing the devastating impact of sight loss upon his own father when he was a young child:

"Absurdly, my father felt that he had failed; that he was a burden; that he was of no use to the family. That is never how we felt: to us, he was the same – but to himself, he was not. I daresay many other blind people feel similar emotions.

"Put your hands over your eyes for a moment, and imagine a world of perpetual darkness: it is a frightening prospect. No sun, no sky, no sea, no flowers, no faces. “What colour is the wind?” – asked a blind man. How do you respond to that?"

During his patronage Sir John has helped the charity to recruit a cadre of Sight Pioneers, high level benefactors who have raised over half a million pounds.