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Second Sight

45 /100

Clarity score

Poor

Charity accounts, evidence & financial rating

45/100 Clarity Score · 2 stars · Charity Commission filings · How we score

Register checked 4 October 2026 · latest accounts 2026

Official regulator data
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Quick answer

Is Second Sight a good charity?

Second Sight scores 45/100 (2 stars, Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, calculated from its UK regulator filings. Its latest accounts year is 2026 (£388k total income, cause-spend split not disclosed). This reflects financial transparency and stewardship on paper — not the real-world impact of its programmes. See the full breakdown.

Income

£388k

Accounts 2026-03-31

Spending

£412k

Accounts 2026-03-31

Charitable activities

Not disclosed

No separate spending figure

Accounts filing

On time

Charity Commission

On this pageJump to a section
London · N5 1UZ Reg 1080445 Registered charity Official website Charity Commission register

What does Second Sight do?

The Charity was formed for the relief of people in north India who are blind or partially sighted, in particular by facilitating the provision of surgeons to carry out cataract surgery, the training of local doctors and nurses and the provision of support and assistance to enable community eye hospitals to become self-sufficient and sustainable.

Activities reported by the charity on the official register · extract . This is separate from the accounts data used for its rating.

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How much does Second Sight raise and spend?

Accounts period 2025-04-01 to 2026-03-31 · Source: Charity Commission filings

Second Sight revenue and expenses for 2026
Category Amount % of spend
Total income £388k —
Total expenditure £412k —
Charitable activities Not disclosed —

What changed in Second Sight’s latest accounts?

Reported totals for 2026 compared with 2025. Changes can reflect the accounting period, restricted grants or restructuring as well as the charity’s work.

Income change
−7.3%
£419k → £388k
Spending change
+7.4%
£384k → £412k
Charitable activities share
Not disclosed
Both years need a disclosed spending split.

These are annual figures. The Clarity Score may use averages across several disclosed years. Source: official accounts.

Where does the money go?

Latest accounts (2026) · £412k spent. Not disclosed in this filing — the Charity Commission return omits the charitable-activities split.

From the annual return

What does Second Sight pay its staff, and where does its money come from?

Answers Second Sight gave in its annual return to the Charity Commission for the year ending 31 March 2026, plus its register entry. These are the charity's own disclosures, not part of the Clarity Score.

Can I claim Gift Aid, and are the trustees paid?

The register records Second Sight as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid, so a UK taxpayer can usually add 25p to every £1 they give by making a Gift Aid declaration. Work out your Gift Aid

Second Sight's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2026 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

Registration details

Registered as a charity
Where it says it operates
India

Source: Charity Commission register and annual return data, Open Government Licence v3.0. A blank answer in the return is shown as not reported, never as “no”.

How have Second Sight's finances changed over five years?

Income fell 15% from £455k in 2022 to £388k in 2026; spending was £412k in 2026.

£0 £200k £400k £600k £800k 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Income 2022: £455k Spending 2022: £572k Income 2023: £279k Spending 2023: £386k Income 2024: £416k Spending 2024: £314k Income 2025: £419k Spending 2025: £384k Income 2026: £388k Spending 2026: £412k
  • Income
  • Spending
  • Cause spend
Second Sight income and spending by accounts year
Year Income Spending Charitable activities
2026 £388k £412k Not disclosed
2025 £419k £384k Not disclosed
2024 £416k £314k Not disclosed
2023 £279k £386k Not disclosed
2022 £455k £572k Not disclosed

Cause spend is plotted only when the filing discloses a split · Source: Charity Commission filings

How does Second Sight compare?

The share of each group scoring at or below Second Sight, including tied scores. A group matched on cause, income band and accounts year appears when at least ten records qualify. Broader groups below may mix reporting periods and operating models. Groups include this charity; percentiles measure our financial rating, not impact.

Income band (£100k–£500k) 30thpercentile

Scores at or above 30% of 1,002 charities in its income band · 45/100 vs 52 peer average.

Health charities 8thpercentile

Scores at or above 8% of 526 charities in this cause · 45/100 vs 72 peer average.

Where Second Sight sits

The causes this charity is classified under, and other charities working nearby.

Similar health charities

Top-rated peers by CharityCompare score

Evidence and interpretation

What the evidence says about Second Sight

In 2026, reported income was £388,362 and expenditure was £412,122. Expenditure exceeded income by £23,760. This annual balance is not the charity’s available cash or unrestricted reserves.

More financial context

Income fell 7.3% compared with 2025. Read the accounts notes for restricted grants, legacies and one-off receipts before treating the movement as a trend.

A separate charitable-activities spending figure is not available for this year in our dataset. We cannot calculate an annual programme-spending share from these fields.

Calculated from our dated accounts dataset, refreshed 2026-09-06. This is not an audit or a manual review of every filing. Original register and accounts · How calculations work.

Find the right support

Who it supports and how to access its work

Reported beneficiaries: Children/young People; Elderly/old People; People With Disabilities; People Of A Particular Ethnic Or Racial Origin.

How it works: Makes Grants To Organisations; Provides Human Resources.

Use the official contact details to check eligibility, referrals, waiting lists and current service coverage. Broad register classifications and a contact address do not confirm that a particular service is available to you.

Explore source-checked support routes

Classifications supplied to the register; extract 2026-10-04. Register contact and activity details · Website listed for this charity

Look beyond the score

Results and impact evidence

We have not added a source-checked programme outcome for this charity. That is a gap in this profile, not evidence that the charity has no impact. Its annual report may contain results that have not been assessed here.

What these results can tell you

Counts of services delivered describe activity. They do not by themselves establish lasting change, what would have happened without the programme, or cost-effectiveness. Results with different definitions, populations or years should not be ranked against each other.

How to judge charity impact evidence

What is Second Sight's Beacon report?

Detailed accountability and finance metrics from UK regulator filings — structured for transparency in our four-beacon report.

Accountability & Transparency

Baseline trust from filing discipline, board oversight, and declared governance policies.

93/100

Accountability & Transparency metrics for Second Sight
Metric Score Value
Filing history (5 years)

No recorded lateness in available history = 15 pts · one late filing = 5 pts · two or more or unknown status = 0 pts. Missing data is not proof of late filing.

100% 15/15 pts
Trustee oversight

Three or more trustees on the register = 15 pts, scaled down for fewer (governance red flag below three).

100% 6 trustees · 15/15 pts
Declared policies

Safeguarding (4) · conflict of interest (3) · volunteer management (3) — from Charity Commission annual return.

70% 7/10 pts

Financial Health

Stability and solvency — reserves, revenue trend, and debt from Charity Commission accounts.

10/100

Financial Health metrics for Second Sight
Metric Score Value
Reserves (months of expenditure)

3–24 months = full marks, tapering on both sides · 0 months or 4+ years = 0 pts. Reserves are not necessarily cash; needs vary by operating model.

0% Not stated · 0/15 pts
Income stability / growth

+20% or more over the window = 10 pts · flat = 5 pts · −20% or worse = 0 pts, scaled between.

30% 3/10 pts · 3-year average
Liabilities to assets

0% liabilities-to-assets = 5 pts, scaling down to 0 pts at 60%+ debt.

0% Not stated · 0/5 pts

Financial Efficiency

How efficiently funds reach the cause — program spend and fundraising cost ratios.

0/100

Financial Efficiency metrics for Second Sight
Metric Score Value
Program expense ratio

90%+ on charitable activities = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 50% or below.

0% Not stated · 0/10 pts
Fundraising efficiency

≤10p to raise £1 = full marks, scaling down to 0 pts at 40p or above (fundraising cost ÷ income).

0% Not stated · 0/10 pts

Community Support

Grassroots backing from Charity Commission workforce data — volunteers vs paid staff.

50/100

Community Support metrics for Second Sight
Metric Score Value
Volunteer-to-staff ratio

Volunteers at 2x staff or more = full marks · no volunteers = 0 pts, scaled between.

50% 10 volunteers · 5/10 pts

How we calculate beacon scores →

What trust indicators does Second Sight have?

Pulled from the Charity Commission register — filing behaviour, board size, and workforce where reported.

  • Accounts filed on time

    up to date · last filing

  • Trustee board size (3–12)

    6 trustees on the Charity Commission register

Fundraising Regulator

Status not yet checked

Separate from our financial scores. Registration records a commitment to the Code of Fundraising Practice; it does not certify every fundraising activity.

Check Fundraising Regulator →

Official register

Reg 1080445

Full trustee list, accounts, and regulatory history on the Charity Commission.

View on Charity Commission →

Trustees & officers

  • Mark Rees since 2000
  • Ruth Tipping since 2000
  • Dr LUCY MATHEN Chair · since 2000
  • Francisca van Holthoon since 2014
  • Sabilah Bundhoo since 2017
  • Dr LUCY MATHEN since 2000

How reliable is Second Sight's data?

Source
Charity Commission (England & Wales)
Accounts year
2026
Filing date
Data refreshed

Medium confidence — some data missing or late

Scores reflect the accounts in our dated data extract. The live register may contain newer filings. Clarity Score measures how clearly the charity accounts for money in those filings — not programme impact.

Check the current register entry · Report a data correction

Financial source extract: 2026-09-06. Organisation identifier: 3969615. Method version: 1.1. View method changes.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources: Charity Commission for England and Wales, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Open Government Licence v3.0 .

Your donation decision

What should you check before donating to Second Sight?

  1. 1. Match the name and charity number

    Check 1080445 on the official register. A real charity number alone does not prove that a fundraiser or appeal is authentic.

    Verify the registration →
  2. 2. Read the accounts in context

    Our latest accounts data covers 2026. Compare the accounts period, spending and reserves. An administration cost ratio alone cannot tell you how effective a charity is.

    Explore the financial evidence →
  3. 3. Look for evidence of results

    Read the trustees’ annual report for activities, outcomes and limitations. The Clarity Score measures public reporting; it does not establish the impact of a donation.

    How to read charity accounts →
  4. 4. Compare charities serving your cause

    Compare up to four charities, check the dates behind their figures, and decide which work you want to support. Complete your donation through a verified charity channel.

    Start a comparison with Second Sight →
How we score charities +

The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK regulator filings (Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR and CCNI). Four pillars — Accountability & Transparency (40), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10) — each scored on a continuous scale, not pass/fail cutoffs. A statutory inquiry sets the score to 0 automatically.

Full methodology →

Accountability & Transparency

Scored from filings

40 points — filing history (15), trustee oversight (15, scaling up to a board of three or more), declared policies (10).

Financial Health

Scored from filings

30 points — reserves (15, full marks 3–24 months, tapering on both sides), income stability (10), liabilities to assets (5, scaling down as debt rises).

Financial Efficiency

Scored from filings

20 points — program expense ratio and fundraising cost, each on a graduated scale (not a single cutoff). Kept at 20% of the total: financial-ratio scoring alone is not a reliable effectiveness signal (see "why not just an overhead ratio?" below).

Community Support

Scored from filings

10 points — volunteer-to-staff ratio from Charity Commission workforce data, scaling continuously up to a 2:1 ratio.

Overall score

Sum of all pillar points. Display stars use the same bands as the labels: 90–100 → 5★ Exceptional; 75–89 → 4★ Good; 60–74 → 3★ Needs improvement; 1–59 → 2★ Poor; 0 → not rated.

How can you share Second Sight's rating?

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How do you add Second Sight's rating to your site?

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Second Sight's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.

Is Second Sight a good charity? +

Second Sight scores 45 out of 100 (2 stars — Poor) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Its recent filings do not disclose a charitable-activities spend split and its accounts are up to date. That reflects how transparent and financially healthy it looks on paper — it does not measure the real-world impact of its work, so treat it as one factor alongside the cause you care about. CharityCompare never tells you where to donate.

Is Second Sight a legitimate charity? +

The register data used for this profile lists Second Sight as a registered charity (charity number 1080445). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=1080445&subId=0. Check the current entry and the identity of anyone requesting money. Registration does not verify a particular appeal; Clarity Score summarises filing transparency, not programme impact.

What is Second Sight's charity number? +

Second Sight's charity number is 1080445. Check that number on the official register (Charity Commission, OSCR or CCNI) or this CharityCompare profile before you donate — scammers sometimes reuse real numbers on fake appeals.

What is Second Sight's charity rating? +

Second Sight scores 45 out of 100 on CharityCompare (2 stars — Poor). The Clarity Score (method v1.1) sums four pillars from UK regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 pts), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10). Stars use the same bands as those labels — 90+ is 5★ Exceptional. It is not an impact ranking.

Does Second Sight have reviews and complaints? +

CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Second Sight. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (none flagged on this profile). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate.

How much of my donation reaches Second Sight? +

Second Sight does not disclose a charitable-activities spend split in its recent UK regulator filings, so there is no official figure for how much of a donation reaches the cause. CharityCompare reports this as "not disclosed" rather than assuming a number.

What are Second Sight's overheads? +

Second Sight's recent UK regulator filings do not disclose a fundraising or governance cost split, so no official overhead percentage is available. The register does not show individual salaries; senior pay is disclosed in the trustees' annual report and accounts.

How much income does Second Sight receive? +

Second Sight reported £388k total income in its 2026 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: stable.

Are Second Sight's accounts up to date? +

Filing status: up to date (last filing 2026-08-11). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.

Where is Second Sight based? +

Second Sight's registered contact address is in London (N5 1UZ). It tells the regulator it operates in India, with a focus on health.

Can I claim Gift Aid on a donation to Second Sight? +

The register records Second Sight as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid, so a UK taxpayer can usually add 25p to every £1 they give by making a Gift Aid declaration.

Are Second Sight's trustees paid? +

Second Sight's annual return for the year ending 31 March 2026 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.

When was Second Sight registered as a charity? +

Second Sight was entered on the register on 26 April 2000.

How does CharityCompare score Second Sight? +

We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Second Sight's regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 points — filing history, trustees, policies), Financial Health (30 — reserves, income trend, debt), Financial Efficiency (20 — cause spend and fundraising cost, on a graduated scale) and Community Support (10 — volunteer-to-staff ratio). An open statutory inquiry scores 0. The score measures reporting on paper, not programme impact. CharityCompare is free for donors, takes no commission on donations, and scores cannot be bought.

How often is this page updated? +

This profile was last updated on 6 September 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and Second Sight's most recent accounts cover 2026. Scores and figures refresh whenever we re-ingest the register, so the page reflects our latest data pull rather than a one-off review.