Trustee recruitment
Contents
Page
Welcome letter from Dr Louise Wood CBE, Chair of trustees
Introduction
Background and strategy
Our impact and governance:
The role
Who are we looking for?
How to apply
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Welcome letter
Thank you for your interest in the work of Moorfields Eye Charity
We are a charity dedicated to eye health. Our mission is to improve eye health and the lives
of people affected by sight-loss by funding world-leading innovation in research, education
and care.
Our trustee Dr Rob Jones comes to the end of his term in office in June 2026. Rob has
shared his experience of living with sight-loss Rob's Moorfields journey | Moorfields Eye
Charity. In order to ensure that such lived experience continues to be at the heart of our
board’s work, the successful candidate will have sight-loss and experience of eye health as
a patient.
We are not looking for a direct replacement for Rob, but rather for someone with senior level
experience, skills and knowledge who can contribute effectively in one or more areas of the
charity’s work. This could be from professional or voluntary work, and gained in any sector.
We work closely with Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (Moorfields) and the
UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. This partnership is acknowledged to be world-leading in
terms of the impact of the research, the translation of research findings into new clinical
diagnostic methods and treatments, and the development of new clinical pathways, including
the growing use of AI and digital medicine. We are proud to be supporting all aspects of this
work. Our aim is to help ensure that Moorfields and UCL continue to be world-leading.
Over recent years our grant-making has grown, and we currently commit on average about
£6m annually. However, under our future grants strategy we have ambitious plans to
increase this further to not less than £10m pa in the coming years. We have invested in
growing our staff teams for fundraising, grant-making and communications in order to deliver
this. With this has come the need to strengthen our staffing in terms of data and IT and HR.
We are working in partnership with Moorfields and UCL to develop a new world class centre
for clinical care, teaching and research, which will be located near St Pancras in London.
Construction of the new centre is well advanced and it is expected to open in 2027. In
partnership with UCL we are seeking to raise over £100m towards the cost of the new centre
and to support world leading research, education and innovation in eye health. To date the
fundraising campaign has raised over £75m.
We have a diverse board in terms of gender and diversity of ethnic background but would
welcome applications from candidates who would diversify our board further. In particular
we would welcome applications from younger candidates.
All trustees and staff at Moorfields Eye Charity are passionate about eye health and want to
support the pioneering work of the world-leading partnership between Moorfields and the
UCL. The years ahead will be a time of transformation for our charity as the new centre
opens and we realise our ambitions. We hope that you will be as excited as we are by the
opportunity to play a leading role in that journey. We are looking forward to hearing from you.
Dr Louise Wood, Chair
Introduction
The number of people in the UK with sight loss is estimated to rise to 2.7 million by 2030. By
2050, the current figure will double to over 4 million.
Moorfields Eye Charity’s mission is to improve eye health and the lives of people affected by
sight-loss by funding world-leading innovation in research, education and care. We work in
partnership with Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (Moorfields) and UCL
Institute of Ophthalmology (UCL). Information about the charity is at Moorfields Eye Charity.
We are members of the Association of Medical Research Charities and NHS Charities
Together, the national body for NHS charities. We partner with the National Institute for
Health and Care Research and with other leading medical research charities.
Background and strategy
Philanthropy has always played an important role at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Moorfields Eye
Charity was founded in 2011, but our current existence dates back to 2016 when we merged
with another charity, the Special Trustees of Moorfields. We are an independent charity but
with close links to Moorfields.
Our mission is to improve eye health by funding innovation in research, education and care
to benefit Moorfields’ patients.
Our six-year organisational strategy (2021 – 2027) outlines our ambitious objectives for the
charity. It brings together all aspects of our work and focuses them around our core belief,
mission and vision.
Our strategy outlines five main objectives:
1. Create a world-class integrated centre for advancing eye health, teaching and research
2. Be the leading charity for research into eye health
3. Support innovation in patient care, enhancing the patient experience
4. Support sharing knowledge and the development of people’s expertise
5. Shape national policy to increase resources allocated to eye health
You can find out more about our key objectives and how we plan to achieve them at Our
strategy | Moorfields Eye Charity.
Our impact
Across the last four years, we awarded 263 grants worth a total of £59m million to support
research, innovation in patient care, staff wellbeing and training at Moorfields and UCL. Our
impact report highlights recent successes, and the progress we are making against our
strategic goals. The 2025 report is available at Our impact | Moorfields Eye Charity
Our grants have enabled advancements across a wide range of eye conditions. We fund
research from pre-clinical to clinical trials. We fund researchers at different stages of their
careers and are very proud of their achievements in research and prestigious roles in the
scientific community. The charity helps to bring quicker diagnoses and new treatments to
people with sight loss – changing lives in the UK and worldwide.
Our governance
The board is responsible for the overall management of the charity and setting its long-term
objectives and strategy. The board has delegated the management of the charity to the
Chief executive and senior leadership team.
Our board currently comprises 12 members, chaired by Dr Louise Wood. The majority of
trustees, including the chair, are independent, but a minority are appointed by Moorfields.
Independent trustees serve for (renewable) terms of three years up to a maximum of nine
years.
The trustees have an established committee structure to support in the governance of the
charity. There are seven board sub-committees reporting to the board. Each committee is
chaired by an independent trustee and has other trustee members. In addition, some
committees have additional members who also serve in a voluntary capacity but who are not
trustees. The seven committees are: Audit and risk; Fundraising and communications;
Grants; Investment; Nominations; Oriel (for the new eye centre); People and remuneration.
Our board works well and has a strongly collegiate and inclusive atmosphere; we have strong,
collaborative relationship with the charity’s senior leadership team and staff, with Moorfields
Eye Hospital, and with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. Each trustee of the charity plays
a key role in upholding the collegiality of the board as well as in offering challenge and support
to the executive team.
More information about the charity and its governance is in our annual report and accounts
Annual accounts | Moorfields Eye Charity. Information about trustees and senior staff is at
Our team | Moorfields Eye Charity
The role
We are seeking to appoint someone with senior skills, experience and knowledge as a trustee.
Key responsibilities (as trustee)
Trustees will:
• Ensure the charity pursues its objectives as defined in its Articles and uses its
resources exclusively in pursuance of its objectives.
• Contribute actively to the board of trustees’ role in giving firm strategic direction to the
charity, setting overall policy, defining goals and setting targets and evaluating
performance against those objectives.
• Ensure the financial stability of the charity, making sure that robust systems are in
place for internal financial control and the protection of the charity’s funds and assets.
• Safeguard the good name and values of the charity and wherever possible play a
strong ambassadorial role, helping to raise the profile of the charity and to promote
charitable giving for the benefit of the organisation, both with regards to Oriel and
generally.
• Act in the best interests of the charity, beneficiaries and future beneficiaries at all times
and avoid any personal conflict of interest.
Time commitment
The board meets four times a year: Monday afternoon, 23 March 2026, Thursday morning, 16
July 2026, Monday afternoon, 21 September 2026 and Thursday morning 10 December 2026.
Trustees are encouraged to attend board meetings in person. In addition the board may be
consulted between meetings. A board awayday is held every year.
All trustees serve on at least one committee. The successful candidate would be appointed to
the committee which would most benefit from their knowledge and experience.
Committees normally meet 3-4 times a year to oversee delivery of different areas of work.
Committee meetings are a mix of in-person, hybrid or online.
The role is unremunerated but travel and other reasonable expenses are reimbursed.
Who are we looking for?
• This post has a Genuine Occupational Requirement that the successful applicant be a
person who is blind or partially sighted, in line with The Equality Act 2010 and holds a
certificate of visual impairment, ideally severe visual impairment.
• Professional knowledge and experience which would benefit the work of the charity.
• Strong commitment to improving the lives of people affected by sight loss.
• Willingness to devote the necessary time and effort.
• The ability to think and act strategically and creatively.
• Sound, independent judgement, relevant skills and integrity.
• Understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of
trusteeship.
• Ability to inspire trust and confidence in people (including other trustees, the staff of
the charity, volunteers and other stakeholders in the charity).
• Demonstrable commitment to the Nolan principles of public life: selflessness, integrity,
objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
• Demonstrable commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion.
Eligibility
Candidates must be aged 16 or over and resident in the UK.
Candidates must not be employees of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Offers to candidates will be subject to written references prior to appointment as a trustee.
Successful candidates will be required to sign a declaration to disclose certain personal
information to confirm they are a ‘fit and proper person’ to manage a charity and that they are
not disqualified.
How to apply
Please send us a copy of your cv together with a short covering letter (maximum 500 words)
outlining your interest in the role, how you meet what we are looking for and how you think
your knowledge and experience could benefit the work of the charity.
Please send your cv and covering letter by email to: Robert Dufton, CEO, r.dufton@nhs.net
If it would be helpful to you to submit your application in another format, please let us know.
If you would like any of the information referred to in this document made available to you in
another format e.g. braille please let us know.
Please submit your application by 4 February 2026.
Next steps
Applications will be acknowledged.
Short listed candidates will be invited to interview on the afternoon of Tuesday 3 March 2026
January 2026
