Rodney Buse has been announced as the next Guide Dogs chairman, taking up the position next year upon the exit of current chair Tony Aston.

Buse has served as a trustee on the boards of more than 20 charities including ActionAid, where he was chair, and CAF and NCVO where he was vice chair. Most recently he was chairman of Charity Trustee Networks before it merged with the Small Charities Coalition in March of this year and Debra Allcock Tyler assumed the head of the board. 

Buse will join Guide Dogs in its 80th anniversary year. Commenting on his appointment he said: "Guide Dogs has an impressive track record in increasing mobility opportunities for blind and partially sighted people.

"I am honoured to be joining a charity with a rich heritage and one that is held in such high regard by the general public. This is a particularly exciting time for Guide Dogs and I look forward to supporting it in its goal to reach and support even more blind and partially sighted people."

Last year the charity appointed Royal Navy strategist Richard Leaman as its chief executive to lead the charity through its ten-year strategy, A Vision of the Future, which will work in collaboration with the NHS and central and local government to help blind people find services. Buse will help shepherd the charity through the next stage of this strategy.

Recently RNIB chief executive Lesley-Anne Alexander said that Guide Dogs had repelled advances by RNIB to merge. But Leaman refuted this, saying closer collaboration was still very much on the cards.