Rooted in Christian values, at CBM UK we believe every person with disability should have access to healthcare, education and the opportunity to earn a living. And this should be the case wherever you live in the world – including the poorest places. We’re excited to collaborate with partners, funders and impact investors who share this vision, so that every development pound delivers for everyone.
CBM was founded in 1908 by German pastor, Ernst Christoffel, who set up a home in Turkey to provide care and education for people who were blind and children with disabilities. Over the following century, our work expanded to Africa and Asia.
Today, one in six people live with a disability – and more than 80% live in low- or middle-income countries. As the largest marginalised group in the world, they are also the ones most left behind. At CBM, our mission is to see this change.
Together with our local partners, and with the support of funders, we design tech-enabled, evidence-based and scalable programmes for disability inclusion. These innovative models allow men, women, girls and boys to access education, healthcare and the opportunity to earn a living. And they work because we invest in people with lived experience of disabilities to lead the change.
We don’t want to live in a world of retrofit. Instead we co-design and co-create for inclusion. This approach future-proofs investments from the outset – by linking movement leadership to real delivery mechanisms across health, climate, humanitarian action, education and livelihoods.
Back our breakthrough-to-scale pathway: help us prove what works, embed it in public systems and then replicate across contexts.
Our ‘Dream Big’ pipeline is a portfolio of models and programmes that show how systems can be redesigned to work for everyone. It’s how we’ll turn disability inclusion into an ‘operating system’ that upgrades whole sectors.
Donate, fundraise or leave a gift in your Will – there are many ways to invest in the future of people with disabilities in the world’s poorest places.
Join us in prayer for a world where people with disabilities are no longer overlooked, or download our prayer diary to bring the people we serve into your prayers.
In 2025, alongside our local partners, CBM UK programmes reached 1,383,163 people.
234,311 people were treated for blinding diseases (including receiving a visual assistive device).
922,826 people were screened or examined for eye disease to prevent blindness or low vision.
32,105 people were supported to earn a living or improve their livelihood.
9,494 people accessed mental health services in health systems supported by CBM.
3,955 people were supported to access education services.
Our game-changing, scalable programmes demonstrate how healthcare, humanitarian, climate and finance systems can be redesigned to work for everyone. Browse our resource library for the evidence briefs and reports that show how our innovative models work in practice – and the impact they have on real people’s lives.
We work in some of the world’s poorest places to transform lives and build a more inclusive world for everyone, everywhere.
We prevent blindness and restore sight to people who are living needlessly blind.
We improve access to healthcare for people with disabilities. And we prevent and treat conditions that can lead to disability.
We enable people with mental health conditions to access the treatment and support they need.
We challenge barriers that keep children with disabilities out of school and make sure they can access an education and a brighter future.
We support people with disabilities and their families with the skills, training and equipment to secure a future where they can thrive.
We make sure people with disabilities are not excluded in times of crisis. And we support communities to rebuild for the future.
We ensure people with disabilities have equal rights and are included, respected, and given the chance to reach their full potential.
We work to eliminate, prevent and treat Neglected Tropical Diseases in areas where they are identified as a public health problem.
From frugal health tech to innovative healthcare models, browse our news and blogs to see how CBM projects are changing the lives of people with disabilities through low-cost, integrated and community-led approaches. It’s a great way to discover the depth and breadth of our work.
