What has the Access for All campaign accomplished?

Geraldine Peacock: It's ongoing, each year we' have a new focus. Basically the core of the theme is that Guide Dogs as an organisation is all about mobility, freedom and independence. What the Access for All slogan and campaign has helped to do is make that vision a reality.

We have had various campaigns since it began two years ago. Under the Access for All banner we've tackled access to private hire vehicles where we actually managed to change the licensing conditions in nearly 250 local authorities to ensure that because they are the agencies which license mini cabs, they require drivers to carry guide dogs. And thanks to Neil Gerrard's Ten Minute Rule Bill, which we have supported throughout its progress, that requirement looks set to become a national one.

We also have a campaign about tackling access to pubs and restaurants. We did things like set up an access hotline to tell landlords and restaurateurs what their duties were under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). They can't refuse guide dogs, but many seemed to think they could!

This year's Access for All campaign has focused on access to transport. We launched a broad good practice guide, under the banner of the Guide Dog Travel Charter, and invited passenger transport operators to sign up to it, signalling their commitment to making sure their services are accessible. Some of the biggest names in the industry - such as British Airways, Stagecoach UK Bus and South West Trains - have endorsed the Charter and the campaign has generated a huge amount of media coverage, which helped to highlight the issue. As with our other campaigns, the work will continue long after the launch has died down and we'd really like to see the DDA extended as soon as possible to include transport.

But access is not the only issue we campaign on. We did a safer streets campaign where we looked at what kind of things caused havoc to guide dog owners like street design, street furniture, hedges and bushes which weren't trimmed, proper lighting on streets and lots of Mayors signed up to it. And Transport 2000's initiative, the Safer Streets Coalition, of which we are a member, now includes the safe and accessible design of traffic calming measures and pedestrian crossings within its aims.

The DDA covers many of these areas in principle but, as with a lot of laws - they don't necessarily happen on the ground. What we are attempting is to ensure that the spirit of the law becomes reality. The same sort of thing has happened with voluntary firework codes within the pyrotechnic industry. Whilst the intent of the voluntary codes was good, they were not enforced. That's why we, and many other people, are calling for much stronger firework regulation. Every year, Guide Dogs has to retire a number of dogs because they have been traumatised by the noise of fireworks. This causes huge distress to the dog and, of course, its owner and costs our Association tens of thousands of pounds every time it happens. We don't want to ruin anyone's fun, but we don't want people's lives ruined either.

What would Guide Dogs' like to see in the forthcoming Queen's Speech?

Geraldine Peacock: We want a country where visually impaired people are not disabled by either the environment or social perceptions of their conditions. So it's really about how we ensure legislation is actually put into practice. What we'd like to see - and what I think is beginning to happen - is greater clarity from the government about frameworks for action at a local level. It is good to have initiatives, slogans and grand plans, but making it really happen is about much better partnerships across sector boundaries. What we're trying to do is work with private and public sector organisations to make existing resources work better together: asset sweating to make combined resources go further; working together rather than duplicating. Some further tax incentives would be useful!

What do you think of the government's record as a whole?

Geraldine Peacock: There has certainly been a big change in the last three or four years in terms of responsiveness. The government has created a new dialogue with the voluntary sector that wasn't there before.

We actually are invited to the table now and to contribute to policy thinking and formulation.

Guide Dogs is currently facing an £11 million shortfall. Can you explain how that situation came about?

Geraldine Peacock: Like many well-established charities, Guide Dogs over the years had developed a good investment policy. In particular during the 70s and 80s its performance exceeded expectations and allowed the organisation to diversify into other things such as hotels, holiday programmes, grant giving, Dogs for the Disabled and ophthalmic research.

However, the success of the stock market obscured the financial vulnerability of the organisation. When I took up the post five years ago, the organisation was 80% dependent on legacy income which that year totalled £29 million. Of that sum £20 million came from one hundred people's wills, so in crude terms if the right hundred people did not die in that financial year we would have had difficulty keeping the show on the road. Also, GDBA had gone from a break even position 4 years previously to incurring a revenue deficit of £17 million on a turnover of £45 million. If this had continued, even with reserves of some £200 million we would have been bust in a comparatively short period of time.

So my job was to try and stabilise the financial base of the organisation whilst ensuring we could continue to meet client's needs and, in particular, secure the long-term future of the core guide dog's service

We now have a new strategy in place that focuses on mobility and independence for visually impaired people. We will have balanced our books by the end of 2004 by merging our hotels with Action For Blind People and our holiday programme with the Winged Fellowship Trust.

We established Dogs for the Disabled as an independent charity in its own right, and we've restructured the organisation to take out a lot of the administrative overheads. We've invested in new fund raising techniques. This has reduced the deficit to £11 million.

However the economic climate has changed - the stock market has crashed and legacy notifications for all charities are falling. What we are doing now is spreading our financial risk by keeping overheads low, maintaining quality and investing in a diversified income generating strategy. As part of this we audited the usage of our residential training centres and round average occupancy rates of between 11% and 18%.

Patterns of training are changing and, these days, many visually impaired people wish to train with their dogs at home or at work, or part-residentially. In order to give people choice we are moving out of our residential centres and buying in space in other agencies' facilities for residential training. Local groups of supporters and guide dog owners are helping us find the right locations, which mean we only buy in space when we need it but can give people real choice, as happens in many other countries.

In addition, we have appointed a development director from the private sector to help us set up initiatives to earn money, such as dog training classes for the public and guide dog branded product. We have no money from the Government and are therefore heavily dependent on public support to honour our lifetime commitment to guide dog owners.

Do you think the British people give enough to charities?

Geraldine Peacock: Well they don't give as generously as the Americans for example, in terms of the surveys you see. I think you have to consider the way in which people give and how. The culture in America is very different, where philanthropy is a given. Here, there is a different attitude linked with the welfare state ideology. I think charities have got to get a lot smarter about the way they approach the public for money. People may relate to causes or they may relate to being active citizens who see their money as an investment, or they may want to have fun! They certainly want to know where their money goes and what's being done with it. So charities need to be more business like and not have all their eggs in one financial basket.

In terms of persuading the public to give more money to charity, is this something the government or charity commission could do something to address?

Geraldine Peacock: The charity commission is changing to become more focussed on regulation, but it can encourage transparency. If the Strategy Unit's Report is implemented, we're also going to have new fund raising codes. Charities are going have to self-audit, to prove to the public where their money is going and what impact it is having.

What the government can do is help incentivise giving, particularly by using tax breaks. If people feel that giving a pound of their own will also bring in a pound of government money, it is very motivating. Combining an element of fun is a good idea too. Not everyone wants to feel virtuous. For example one of our potential new fund raising initiatives is around company lotteries. What you need are different products for different people.

David Blunkett is a prominent guide dog user. Do you work well with him?

Geraldine Peacock:Yes, he gives us a lot to be proud of. He is an inspiring role model for many visually impaired people. He used to be a trustee of Guide Dogs for several years, but had to give this up when he became a minister. He is very supportive to guide dog owners and sees many of them at his constituency surgeries.As Home Secretary he and Lucy (his guide dog) are very much in the public eye which raises awareness of visual impairment issues and our organisation.