Old name, new purpose: why we’ve gone back to RNID

  1. Home
  2. Get involved
  3. Donate
  4. Philanthropic giving

Philanthropic giving

We’re close to a breakthrough on curing hearing loss. Find out how your major donation can make it happen sooner.

I was totally deaf in my left ear and my right ear, which was doing all the hearing, wasn’t doing much… Everyday-life became a minefield, I found myself withdrawing more and more. [Then] I had bilateral cochlear implants… It’s been quite miraculous; my life has been turned around.

I know that RNID funded research into cochlear implants from the beginning. That’s why I’m delighted to support them in their attempts to find even better ways to cure this debilitating and insidious condition.”

Sue Wilson, philanthropist and a cochlear implant user

A growing problem

Hearing loss is becoming a health crisis. By 2031 more than 14.5 million people will be affected, that’s one in five of us. Despite this, hearing research is starved of funding. Currently, less than 1% of the UK’s public medical research subsidy goes towards hearing research (that’s only £1.11 for each person affected in 2014). This needs to change, and we need your help to do that.

A cure within a generation

A cure for hearing loss is no longer unthinkable – in fact, it’s almost within our reach.

With more philanthropic partnerships helping to pay for more scientists and more laboratories, we expect the first treatments for hearing loss or tinnitus to be available within five years.

At RNID, we’re experts in backing the best hearing loss research and we run the world’s largest donor-funded hearing research programme.

Philanthropic gifts were instrumental in:

  • developing cochlear implants and the introduction of hearing screening for all newborn babies
  • developing a way of implanting stem cells into the cochlea so that they restore hearing
  • the discovery of the gene which increases susceptibility to glue ear and the first gene linked to otosclerosis.

We run one of the largest donor-funded programmes in the world, but we need to treble our investment to have the best chance of finding cures sooner.

This is why we need your help.

Our donors

Our research is entirely dependent on charitable donations, we simply couldn’t do any of it without our major donors. In particular, we’d like to recognise the following philanthropists who have supported our research programme:

  • MariaMarina Foundation
  • Professor Elizabeth Russell
  • The AlFayed Charitable Foundation
  • The late Sir Naim Dangoor, CBE, and family.

Thank you again.

Your gift could make all the difference

Dr Eri Hashino, whose study of the growth of inner ear sensory tissue from stem cells at Indiana University is funded by RNID says:

“We expect our research to provide unprecedented opportunities for discovering drugs to promote the generation of damaged hair cells.”

Your investment can have a real impact:

  • £25,000 funds an RNID PhD student for one year of their three-year research project, meaning that you will help to kick start the career of the scientists of tomorrow.
  • £50,000 funds one year of a top level research project to generate scientific discoveries that will lead to new treatments to protect, improve or restore hearing.
  • £100,000 funds a year of our most advanced research projects, bringing promising treatments closer to clinical trials and, ultimately, benefiting people with hearing loss or tinnitus.

On average, every £1 that our supporters invest in hearing research generates a further £10 of follow-on public and private funding.

How we thank you

As an investor in our work, not only will we put your donation to good use, we’ll keep you updated on how your support is making a difference. Our senior leadership team enjoys meeting our donors at exclusive events, and organising lab tours so that supporters can see our groundbreaking work in person.

Acknowledgement of support is provided in our annual report for those who are happy to be publicly thanked. And for the highest level donors, there’s also the possibility of having the honour to name scholarships, programmes and care homes.


Contact us

If you are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus and need free confidential and impartial information and support, contact RNID.

We’re open 8:30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Page last updated: 21 September 2022

Back to top