James Adams pays tribute to a renowned charity champion

Sandra Wilson was the chair of RNIB Scotland from 2015 to 2021. 

She was elected by blind and partially sighted people to be their champion, and advocate their interests within RNIB, but also in wider society.

Sandra brought unrivalled qualities to her role as chair, advocating the interests of blind and partially sighted people with integrity and understanding. 

Her approach also built immense respect and trust among RNIB staff, who believed her to be on their side.

The confidence and security that can flow through an organisation from having a respected chair, who will ask the difficult questions internally, but will also be steadfast with support externally is incalculable. Sandra brought this in abundance.

She was a regular contributor on the media – from BBC TV new to Radio 4 and the Inverness Courier – no media outlet in Scotland was safe from hearing from Sandra as she relentlessly advocated the interests of visually impaired people.

Her contribution to the work of RNIB in Scotland, and the positive impacts it has made for blind and partially sighted people cannot be overstated. Sandra was integral and vital to everything we have achieved in the past ten years.

Sandra was a strong supporter of increasing employment opportunities for people with sight loss.

She was hugely supportive of RNIB’s young blind and partially sighted people’s campaign group in Scotland – Haggeye.

She was a fixture in the party-political scene in Scotland and led RNIB Scotland’s engagement with politicians from all parties, speaking on a vast array of topics. She must have attended around 50 party conferences during her tenure. And this, as those who undergo a similar fate will know, is well beyond the call of duty!

To understand the value of strong leadership from a chair, it is worth looking at how public affairs work. Often charities are busy lobbying and campaigning to make positive change happen, and the nature of such things is that often government or authorities do not necessarily share the same enthusiasm for implementation. 

This can lead to occasional terse relations and prove difficult to navigate. On the couple of occasions, we found ourselves in a position where we were perhaps pushing down a road that the powers that be were not so keen on, it made such a huge difference to have the backing and reassurance from Sandra – it gave moral authority to our cause and took us forward.

Thanks to Sandra’s leadership Scotland is a more accessible place for blind and partially sighted people than it otherwise would have been.

The example she set on how to conduct advocacy and influencing reflected her character - inspiring, dedicated and committed both as a leader and as a person and we know she was well respected across wider Scottish civil society.

She will be sorely missed.

RNIB Scotland will be holding a memorial event in Edinburgh to mark Sandra’s enormous commitment to blind and partially sighted people over many years.

James Adams is director of RNIB Scotland