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Royal National Institute of Blind People

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RNIB (formally, the Royal National Institute of Blind People and previously the Royal National Institute for the Blind) is a British charity, founded in 1868, that serves people living with visual impairments.[2] It is regarded as a leader in the field in supporting people in the UK who have vision loss.[3] The organisation seeks to increase awareness of the lived experiences of people who are blind or partially sighted. Additionally, it campaigns to make services such as healthcare, education and public transport safer and more accessible to people with visual impairments.

RNIB
Royal National Institute of Blind People
Formation16 October 1868 (1868-10-16)
TypeRegistered charity
Headquarters154a Pentonville Road, London N1 9JE
Location
Coordinates51°31′54″N 0°06′53″W / 51.5317°N 0.1148°W / 51.5317; -0.1148
Region served
United Kingdom
Chief Executive
Matt Stringer
Key people
Anna Tylor (Chair)[1]
Websiternib.org.uk
Formerly called
British and Foreign Society for Improving the Embossed Literature of the Blind;
British and Foreign Blind Association;
National Institute for the Blind;
Royal National Institute for the Blind;
Royal National Institute of the Blind

The Charity Commission for England and Wales investigated the charity from 2018 to 2020, finding multiple failings described by the Commission's chief executive as "one of the worst examples we have uncovered of poor governance and oversight having a direct impact on vulnerable people."[4][5] The RNIB began selling all its eighteen schools, homes and other institutions.[6]

History

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RNIB was first established on 16 October 1868 as the British and Foreign Society for Improving the Embossed Literature of the Blind.[7][8] The first meeting, which was held at 33 Cambridge Square, Hyde Park, London, involved founder Thomas Rhodes Armitage (a physician who was partially sighted) and Daniel Conolly, W W Fenn[a] and Dr James Gale[b] (all three of whom were blind).[8] Later, the organisation became the British and Foreign Blind Association for Improving the Embossed Literature of the Blind and Promoting the Employment of the Blind – generally shortened to the British and Foreign Blind Association.[8]

In 1914, the organisation relocated to larger premises in Great Portland Street.[7] From 2000 until 2023, RNIB operated from premises on Judd Street, in Bloomsbury, London, which it shared with Guide Dogs.[11] In 2023, The Duchess of Edinburgh opened the organisation's new headquarters in the Grimaldi Building on Pentonville Road, London, which has been adapted to cater for the needs of people who are blind, partially sighted or neurodivergent.[3][12][13]

RNIB's remit has always included reading and writing (e.g. Braille), education and employment.[14][15] From the 20th century, welfare/social support has been important.[16][15] However, it was not till the late 1980s that eye health became a major focus.[15] Previously, eye health was seen as the sole prerogative of ophthalmologists and optometrists.[15]

In 1914, the organisation changed its name to The National Institute for the Blind, or NIB, to reflect its status as a national body involved in all aspects of the welfare of blind people.[7] The organisation was officially renamed the Royal National Institute for the Blind in 1953, having been granted a Royal Charter in 1949.[17] In 2002, the organisation was renamed the Royal National Institute of the Blind ("of" rather than "for" blind people) when it became a membership organisation.[7] To coincide with the launch of the UK Vision Strategy in 2008, it was renamed the Royal National Institute of Blind People.[7] In October 2008, RNIB and Action for Blind People agreed in principle to combine some services across England. The new arrangement began in April 2009, resulting in Action for Blind People becoming an associate charity of RNIB.[18] It merged with RNIB on 1 April 2017.[19][20]

Anna Tylor, who is partially sighted,[21] has been RNIB's Chair since 2020.[1] Matt Stringer was appointed Chief Executive in 2019.[22] King Charles III is the charity's Patron.[23] His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was RNIB's Patron throughout her reign (1952–2022).[24]

Programmes and services

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RNIB's helpline gives access to sight loss experts for questions and guidance.[25]

RNIB's extensive range of reading services includes RNIB Bookshare – a free library of over one million items, which supports students and others in education with a vast collection of accessible textbooks and materials[26] – and Talking Books, a service first established in 1935,[27] which offers thousands of audio books, both fiction and non-fiction.[28]

RNIB’s ECLO (Eye Care Liaison Officers) service aims to help patients understand the impact of a sight loss diagnosis and to direct them to appropriate sources of support.[29]

Since the 1950s, the children's puppet character Sooty is an exclusive feature on the charity's collection boxes.[30][31]

Campaigning

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RNIB campaigns to change behaviours and perceptions around sight loss.[21] It has been involved with several large-scale campaigns including calls for action to create a safer and more inclusive public transport system. In 2023, the charity played a key role[32][33][34] in a national campaign to scrap plans to close ticket offices in train stations.[35] In 2022, the charity launched its largest-ever advertising campaign, See the person, not the sight loss, to raise awareness of sight loss and the support that people who have visual impairments might need.[36][37][38] Along with other leading health charities, RNIB lobbied throughout 2023 for better disability support across the National Health Service (NHS).[39]

The charity has campaigned for mandatory secret ballots for people with visual impairments.[40] After the 2024 general election RNIB delivered an open letter to 10 Downing Street highlighting that according to its research roughly 87% of the UK's citizens with visual impairments were denied their right to vote in secret.[41] The campaign follows a 2019 court judgement that declared the UK's current voting arrangements for people with blindness or visual impairments to be unlawful. RNIB pointed out that in spite of the judgement, the majority of the UK's visually impaired voters do so using technology that requires them to be accompanied into the voting booth and have their choices read aloud by an assistant.[40] As of 2024 only one person living with blindness in the UK has voted in secret, using a device known as the McGonagle Reader. This comprises an audio player with headphones and a plastic template to locate the boxes on the paper.[42]

Schools, homes and other institutions

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RNIB used to run a number of schools, homes, and other institutions. In 2018, an Ofsted report was highly critical of the RNIB Pears Centre for Specialist Learning, near Coventry, which comprised a school and a children's home, founded in 1957 as Rushton Hall School. Ofsted described it as inadequate in three categories and requiring improvement in the other two. It highlighted failures in safeguarding the vulnerable children and in training staff to support them. Later that year, RNIB announced that it had been unable to make sufficient improvements and was closing the Centre; RNIB's chief executive resigned.[43]

Also in 2018, the Charity Commission for England and Wales launched its own inquiry into RNIB following serious allegations of systemic failings within the organisation. In 2020, the Commission ruled that there had been significant management, oversight, and staffing shortcomings which had led to repeated incidents where young people in the charity's care were put at risk or harmed.[6][4] The Charity Commission's chief executive described this investigation as "one of the worst examples we have uncovered of poor governance and oversight having a direct impact on vulnerable people."[5] The Commission stated that RNIB's corporate stewardship of services for children with complex needs fell far short of expectations[6] and that the charity's board had been focused on narrow regulatory compliance and dismissive of criticism from the regulatory organisations it was accountable to – the Care Quality Commission and Ofsted.[44][45] It found failures in training, safeguarding, record-keeping, reporting, responding to complaints, and the administration of medication, as well as instances of harm.[46]

It was then reported that RNIB was selling all eighteen of its care homes and schools.[6] The Charity Commission gave RNIB an official warning and required it to overhaul its governance, management and culture.[47] In light of RNIB's progress in fulfilling the action plan, the Charity Commission withdrew its adverse decision in June 2022.[4]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ William Wilthew Fenn (1827–1906), from London, was a landscape painter and author.[9]
  2. ^ James Gale (1833–1907) was an inventor from Devon.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b White, Peter (15 December 2020). The RNIB's New Chair Of Trustees Anna Tylor. BBC (In Touch broadcast on Radio 4). Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  2. ^ "RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People)". Information Now. Newcastle City Council Adult Social Care and Prevention. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b Watchman, Joanna (31 July 2023). "RNIB office: first UK building to fully adopt BSI neurodiversity standard". Work in Mind. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Charity Inquiry: The Royal National Institute of Blind People (226227) and RNIB Charity (1156629)". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b Layton, Josh (26 June 2020). "Damning report lists 'serious failings' at RNIB children's centre in Coventry". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Butler, Patrick (25 June 2020). "Children at RNIB schools and homes put at risk, charity regulator finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Royal National Institute of Blind People 1868". Science Museum Group. London. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Thomas, p.113
  9. ^ Bassett, Troy J. "Author: William Wilthew Fenn". At the Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  10. ^ Plummer, John (1868). The Story of a Blind Inventor: Being Some Account of the Life and Labours of Dr. James Gale. William Tweedie. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  11. ^ Wait, Sam (23 January 2023). "Guide Dogs moves out of RNIB office share after five years". Civil Society. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  12. ^ "HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh opens the RNIB's new London office". Greater London Lieutenancy. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  13. ^ Pearson, Andrew (6 November 2023). "RNIB's new HQ becomes exemplar in designing for blind and neurodiverse people". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  14. ^ Thomas
  15. ^ a b c d Rose
  16. ^ Thomas
  17. ^ Thomas, pp.142-43.
  18. ^ Little, Matthew (24 October 2009). "RNIB and Action for Blind People announce 'associate' deal". Third Sector. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  19. ^ "A potted history of Windermere Manor". Windermere Manor. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  20. ^ "Action for Blind People merged with RNIB". RNIB. 7 August 2022. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ^ a b Oliver, Toby (1 July 2024). "RNIB campaign to get better voting access for blind people". Hampshire Chronicle. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  22. ^ Weakley, Kirsty (25 April 2019). "RNIB appoints Matt Stringer as new chief executive". Civil Society. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  23. ^ McCormick, Emily (29 May 2024). "RNIB appoints King Charles as royal patron". Optometry Today. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  24. ^ Young, Kimberley; Powell, Selina (9 September 2022). "Tributes paid to Queen Elizabeth II". Optometry Today. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  25. ^ Hemmings, Beth (27 June 2023). "In Touch: The Support Hub; The RNIB's Helpline Services". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  26. ^ "Accessibility: RNIB Bookshare". University of Exeter Library. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  27. ^ "How the Talking Book was born". The History Press. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Talking books and audio publications". Blind Veterans UK. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  29. ^ "CarePlace directory – Eye Care Liaison Officers (ECLO) – support for blind and partially sighted people". London Borough of Hounslow. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  30. ^ Dickenson, Andy (28 February 2022). "Volunteers needed to collect 'Sooty boxes' as blind charity's takings fall". ITV News. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  31. ^ "Sooty's RNIB Make-Over to Help Raise Funds". Living with Disabiltiy. August 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  32. ^ "Train firms plan mass closures of ticket offices". BBC News. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  33. ^ Topham, Gwyn (5 July 2023). "Plans for mass closure of railway ticket offices in England confirmed". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  34. ^ Simone, Carlo (5 July 2024). "Why could train station ticket offices be shut in England?". The Standard. Chester. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  35. ^ Munro, Craig (5 July 2023). "Almost every rail ticket office in England to be closed in next three years". Metro. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  36. ^ Louis, Yasmeen (30 October 2023). "RNIB dispels myths to 'see the person, not the sight loss'". Marketing/ Beat. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  37. ^ "RNIB launches new campaign to dispel myths and encourage people to 'See the person, not the sight loss'". Eye News. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  38. ^ Mahtani, Nisna (8 November 2022). "Why the RNIB Wants You to 'See the Person, Not the Sight Loss'". Little Black Book. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  39. ^ Pickover, Ella (6 February 2023). "Concern over lack of progress supporting people with communication needs in NHS". The Independent. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  40. ^ a b Weaver, Matthew (26 June 2024). "Make this the last inaccessible election for blind people in UK, campaigners demand". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  41. ^ McIvor, Liane (3 July 2024). "RNIB campaigns to improve voting access for blind and partially sighted people". Thiis. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  42. ^ Waple, Katie (3 July 2024). "Blind woman to vote in secret for first time". BBC News. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  43. ^ Mullen, Enda (7 September 2018). "Children's home and school for blind children to close". Coventry Live. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  44. ^ Rosa Royle, Orianna (25 June 2020). "Serious mismanagement at RNIB exposed vulnerable people to risk, regulator finds". Third Sector. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  45. ^ Weakley, Kirsty (25 June 2020). "RNIB's governance failures led to young people being harmed, inquiry finds". Civil Society. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  46. ^ Butler, Patrick (24 June 2020). "Children at RNIB schools and homes put at risk, charity regulator finds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  47. ^ Brown, David (25 June 2020). "Faith in charities is eroding, watchdog warns". The Times. Retrieved 23 September 2024.

Sources

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