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Blind Veterans UK

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This article is about the charity. For other uses, see Dunstan (disambiguation).
Blind Veterans UK
Formation1915
TypeCharity
Registration no.216227
PurposeTo support vision-impaired ex-servicemen and women
HeadquartersQueen's Square, London UK
Websitewww.blindveterans.org.uk

Blind Veterans UK, formerly St Dunstan's, is a large British charity, providing free support and services to vision-impaired ex-servicemen and women and National Service personnel. Blind Veterans UK is a registered charity in England[1] and Scotland[2] and operates throughout the United Kingdom. It has its head office in London and centres in Llandudno and Rustington.[3]

Description

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Established in 1915, Blind Veterans UK provides free services and lifelong support to ex-Service men and women with visual impairments. Its specialist services promote and enable these veterans to regain their independence, meet new challenges and achieve a better quality of life. Blind Veterans UK supports anyone who has served in the British Armed Forces and is experiencing sight loss (be that due to age, accident or illness), and the charity's duty of care extends to all beneficiaries and their families for life. Blind Veterans UK has pioneered many advances in care for the blind and partially sighted; for example, it co-developed the first talking books with the RNIB.[4]

History

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Blind Veterans UK was founded by Arthur Pearson, who had lost his sight due to glaucoma. Because of the increasing numbers of blind British soldiers returning from the front lines during the First World War, Pearson established a hostel for these soldiers as well as blinded sailors and airmen. The intention was that, with training and assistance, they could go on to lead productive lives and would not have to depend on charity.[5]

The Blinded Soldiers and Sailors Hostel's first location was in Bayswater Hill, London. Shortly after, the organisation moved to St Dunstan's Lodge in Regent's Park (the site of Winfield House), along with its first 16 members. The committee's work was praised by the London press at the time – a reference to the Lodge appeared in The Illustrated London News in 1915, which said: "in a corner of London's most beautiful park is a house where miracles are worked."[6] American opera singer Pauline Donnan worked with the newly blind soldiers there, teaching vocal techniques and assisting some in finding singing or teaching jobs.[7]

On Pearson's death in 1921, the chairmanship fell to Ian Fraser, who had been placed in charge of the charity's after-care activities by Pearson, providing assistance and social events such as reunion meetings for the blinded veterans after they had left the hostel in Regent's Park. Fraser had served during the First World War in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry and was blinded by a bullet on the Somme. Having become generally known by the name of the building in which it was based, the organisation then formally changed its name to St Dunstan's in 1923. Fraser remained as chairman until his death in 1974.[8]

St Dunstan's opened its flagship training, convalescent, care and holiday centre in Ovingdean, Brighton, in 1938. The Brighton centre was one of the first buildings in Britain purpose-built for those with a disability and every aspect of its construction was specially designed for blind and partially sighted visitors and residents. Shortly after its opening, The Architect and Building News praised the centre's "magnificent views over the Downs and out to sea", as well as the thought that had gone into making the building ideal for the blind. The centre's residents included World War I veteran Henry Allingham, born 1896, who was briefly the oldest man in the world until his death in 2009.[9]

During the Second World War, the charity admitted those who had lost their sight through their work in the auxiliary services, women's services and munitions factories, besides service personnel from Poland, Netherlands, United States, Canada and South Africa.[10] Due to concerns about potential air raids on Brighton during the Blitz, the charity evacuated its operation from Brighton to the town of Church Stretton, Shropshire, where it occupied the Long Mynd Hotel[11] and other buildings, setting up an industrial training centre and a hospital.[12] In 1946, it returned to Brighton.[11] As of August 2023, the centre was moving again to Rustington.[3]

The charity moved to its current central London headquarters in Harcourt Street, Marylebone, in 1984. In 2000 the charity changed its constitution to allow veterans to join regardless of whether their sight loss was directly related to their service. In 2012, the charity formally became Blind Veterans UK, to help ensure the organisation and its work was "better recognised and understood".[13]

Activities

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Victory Over Blindness sculpture outside Manchester Piccadilly station to commemorate the centenary of World War I and partly funded by Blind Veterans UK

Blind Veterans UK works to provide vision-impaired Armed Forces and National Service veterans with the services and tailored support they need to lead independent lives after sight loss. The charity's work ranges from helping veterans relearn vital life skills and providing them with the tools they need to be independent in their own homes, to offering new learning, training and recreation opportunities and providing long-term nursing, residential and respite care. It continues to assist veterans blinded in service, including men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.[14]

In 2012, Blind Veterans UK launched its No One Alone[15] campaign to find people who are unaware that they may be eligible for its assistance. Research from the charity estimated that there are many thousands of ex-Service men and women in the UK who are eligible for its support.[16]

Blind Veterans UK runs a wide variety of activities from its centres in Rustington and Llandudno, including photography, gardening and arts and crafts. Blind Veterans UK has a long-running writing competition, with those supported by the charity submitting their own original stories. The competition has had celebrity judges in the past, including Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee.[17]

The charity also has a sporting reputation, organising blind sports like goalball as well as conventional sports such as shooting, archery and rock-climbing. Two representatives of Blind Veterans UK, Tony Parkinson and Ray Peart, participated in the 1976 Toronto Paralympics.[18] Some Blind Veterans UK representatives have participated in extreme sports, including Billy Baxter, who holds the world record for fastest blind motorcyclist, and has served as the official Town Crier of Llandudno, North Wales by Llandudno Town Council since 2014.[19] Meanwhile Steve Sparkes became the first blind person to row the Pacific Ocean in 2018.[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Blind Veterans UK, registered charity no. 216227". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  2. ^ "Blind Veterans UK, Registered Charity no. SCO39411". Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
  3. ^ a b "As many as 80 jobs to be created at Blind Veterans UK's new Rustington centre". Sussex World. 7 August 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Talking Books now free for all blind and partially sighted people". All Together Now. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  5. ^ Rose, June (1970). Changing Focus – The Development of Blind Welfare in Britain. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-100490-X.
  6. ^ "St Dunstan's – The House of Miracles : Tony Allen". Worldwar1postcards.com. 1916-05-03. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  7. ^ "American Singer Develops Talent of Blinded Soldiers" Musical Courier (October 17, 1918): 43.
  8. ^ "Ian Fraser, Lord Fraser of Lonsdale". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  9. ^ "The funeral of Henry Allingham". The Guardian. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  10. ^ Crowe, Raynour, Tony, Barrie (2011). Church Stretton through the ages. Greengates, Church Stretton. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-9568018-0-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ a b "Plaque tribute to hotel's war role. Building became HQ for charity helping blind veterans in WW2". Shropshire Star. 23 June 2015. p. 13.Report by Thomas Morton on unveiling of commemorative plaque.
  12. ^ Church Stretton through the ages. pp. 110, 190.
  13. ^ Blind Veterans UK Archived May 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine St Dunstan's is now Blind Veterans UK
  14. ^ "Blind Army veteran joins Remembrance Sunday march". BBC News. 12 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  15. ^ "No One Alone". Blindveterans.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  16. ^ "Blind WW2 veteran to front Blind Veterans UK's No One Alone campaign posters. | Blind Veterans UK". Blindveterans.org.uk. 2013-10-21. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  17. ^ "Whos that supporter? Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee at Blind Veterans UK | Blind Veterans UK". Blindveterans.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  18. ^ "Blind Veterans UK and the beginnings of the Paralympic movement". Blindveteransblog.org.uk. 2012-08-21. Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  19. ^ "Welsh Lives: Meet the UK's only blind town crier with an impressive world record". ITV News. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  20. ^ "Ex-Royal Marine Steve Sparkes becomes first blind person to row across Pacific Ocean". ITV News. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2023.

Further reading

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