About Us
The Isle of Wight Society for the Blind is a registered Charity that provides information, practical help and emotional support to approximately 1,000 visually impaired people living on the Isle of Wight thus enabling them to live as independently as possible.
We remain a totally independent local Charity working hard to raise as much money as we can for our worthwhile and very necessary services.
Millbrooke House
Having outgrown our former premises at Wallace Court, the Society moved to its new home in Millbrooke House at 137 Carisbrooke Road, Newport in April 2006.
Millbrooke House is an elegant Edwardian property set within its own grounds, with a walled garden, large patio and plenty of car parking spaces.
The Society has carried out considerable renovation work to bring the building up to modern standards.
Inside, the entire ground floor has been designed to serve the needs of our
clients - the reception area leads to two sizeable rooms that are used
for meetings and activities. Both rooms have an audio loop system fitted.
There is a spacious Resource Room and leading off this is an IT Suite with six
workstations and an interactive whiteboard that will enable us to provide computer
training.
Upstairs are new offices, plus a new library to house the extensive collection of audiotapes and audio-assisted videotapes.
Thanks to the generous support from the Island Rotary clubs, a specially designed recording studio has been built to enable the Society to achieve its aim of producing a talking version of the Isle of Wight County Press on a weekly basis.
Millbrooke House will serve as a practical headquarters for the IW Society for the Blind for many years to come re-affirming the Society's aims and objectives, which are to help Island residents with sight loss come to terms with it and continue to lead lives as fulfilling and positive as possible.
A Brief History of the Society
The Society was formed in 1895, being the amalgamation of two smaller organisations, one based at Shanklin, the other at Newport. The main role of the Society was to provide financial assistance to blind people by means of a weekly pension. This provision of money enabled some blind people to remain in the community with their families instead of being forced to go into the workhouse. (In 1921 this pension was one shilling a week.)
The year 1920 saw the introduction of the Blind Persons Act which laid certain responsibilities on local authorities to provide some services for blind people. It was permissible for a local authority to delegate this responsibility to a voluntary agency and in 1921 the Society became affiliated to the Council and it has remained the sole provider of specialist services to visually impaired people on the Island ever since.
For many years the Society was run from the home of its Secretary, but by the mid-sixties sufficient funds had been raised to build a Centre at Newport and all work with visually impaired people on the Island was carried out from there.
Having outgrown Wallace Court, the Society purchased a new home in Millbrooke House, Carisbrooke and completed the move to this property at the beginning of April 2006.
These practical headquarters will serve the Society for many years to come as it continues to go from strength to strength - it is the Society with an eye to the future as far as visually impaired people on the Island are concerned.
Registration
Isle of Wight Society for the Blind - Registered Charity Number 203658.
A Company Limited by guarantee No: 6240404.
112 years of supporting people with a visual impairment