A leading UK sight loss charity has named a Bromley man as winner of its top award for nearly two decades of service.

Dennis Lewis, 69, was chosen as recipient of this year’s Alan Alderman Award, named in honour of the Macular Society’s former chairman, which recognises exceptional service to people with macular conditions, the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK.

Joining in 1997, Dennis launched the society’s counselling service, a befriending service and the very first macular support group for working age people.

He has also taken part in numerous fundraising activities for the Society, including running the London Marathon in 2005, aged 55.

Dennis said: “It was a bit of a bolt from the blue. I retired at the end of last year; I had a lovely send-off from everyone at the Society and I thought that was it. But it’s a great honour – now I’ve had time to think about it, I’m thinking ‘wow’.

“It’s particularly nice that the award is named after Alan as he was a good friend. I was a trustee when he became chairman of the Society and travelled to lots of different places all over the UK with him, giving talks to lots of groups and organisations about the impact of macular disease and the value of counselling and emotional support. I got to know him extremely well doing that.”

Alan Alderman was chairman of the Macular Society for six years, until his death in 2012 following a long illness.

Dennis was diagnosed with a juvenile macular dystrophy in 1977. As his sight gradually deteriorated, he was registered partially sighted in 1983, then severely sight impaired ten years later.

Sadly, the condition would later force Dennis to bring a premature end to his career in the banking industry.

Having benefited from receiving counselling for his own condition, Dennis had started training as a counsellor himself, and approached the charity about setting up a professional counselling service.

The Society supported Dennis as he completed his counselling diploma, and the service launched in July 1999.