CamSight Today CamSight continues to work with partners to support local people with low vision and blindness. Expand CamSight continues to work with partners to support local people with low vision and blindness. The charity provides emotional support to help people come to terms with a diagnosis of sight loss. It offers practical help including in people’s homes and communities and support in accessing benefit entitlements. It leads monthly social groups across the county. Mobile Units offer demonstration, advice and training on technology and equipment for independent living including magnifiers, lighting, talking clocks and telephones. Volunteers support all areas of the Charity’s work and help people by reading, befriending and driving. On April the 30th 2025, CamSight converted from being both a registered company and a registered charity to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). A CIO is a legal structure designed specifically for charities in England and Wales, regulated by the Charity Commission. This structure eliminates the need for company filings, making our governance more streamlined and cost-effective. Our up to date entry on the Charity Commission website is linked below: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/201640/governing-document
CamSight since 1945 The post-war years saw the Society moving into new ventures as it now worked with other providers to improve the support provided. Expand The post-war years saw the Society moving into new ventures as it now worked with other providers to improve the support provided. Many members of the its community, paid staff, volunteers and those who benefited from their services have left accounts or spoken of their relationships within the community. Their observations and memories have enriched our knowledge of this period. One of the Society’s first measures was to establish a home for elderly blind people. Money came from the Society’s own funds, donations from Cambridge colleges and a grant of £1,100 from the R.N.I.B. Called ‘Blantyre’, it opened in 1946 at 24 Glisson Road. Seven years later, it was enlarged to house six men and twelve women. In 1954, a second establishment, ‘Kendal’ was opened at 35 Glisson Road. This building housed seven women in need of special care. In 1964 and 1978 more properties were purchased nearby. Individuals were expected to pay rent, but shortfalls were made up by the council whilst the Society took on the responsibility of maintaining the properties. By 1992, twenty-seven residents were living in the Society’s Cambridge properties. Photos: Blantyre House (left) and news clipping about closure of 'The Blind Shop' (right) The 1980s brought substantial changes as the blind workers’ shop closed its doors in 1982. The Society refocused on visiting visually impaired people in their homes and providing rehabilitation, training, the provision of special equipment and, as always companionship to all its members. In 1984 it developed a resource centre with funding from the Manpower Services Commission. The Society’s manager and two community workers were joined by dozens of volunteers who dedicated themselves to the growing number of people in need of their services. By the early 1990s, 650 blind and partially-sighted people were being assisted. It was at this point that the name Cam Sight was adopted. Increasing numbers of people needed support and new technologies available meant that the 1990s were years of change for CamSight. In 1992, the Glisson Road house was closed and sold and the Society’s headquarters moved briefly to Oakington before settling in its current home in Green End Road in 1996. It opened an office and equipment centre at in Chatteris in 2008, which in 2018 moved to Chapel Road in Wisbech. The work of CamSight was supported by the development of a team of specialist Sensory Social Workers. The scope of the Resource Centre also evolved as new kinds of low vision equipment increased the independence of visually impaired people. New forms of technology became available and a Technology Trainer was appointed to teach computer skills. Monthly information sessions were introduced to help newly registered people access support and resources available.
CamSight Between the Wars In April 1921 it became a formally registered charity as the Cambridge Society for the Blind and within six months, re-named itself the Cambridgeshire Society for the Blind. Expand With the Blind Persons Act of 1920, it became possible to establish a formal register of local blind people and their care became the responsibility of the state in conjunction with local government and local voluntary organisations. The Cambridge Society was well placed to step in and help. In April 1921 it became a formally registered charity as the Cambridge Society for the Blind and within six months, re-named itself the Cambridgeshire Society for the Blind. It was given the responsibility by the county council for administering the Blind Persons Act and received a grant from the Ministry of Health. How was this money used? Two home teachers were employed who visited clients and taught Braille and handicrafts. In 1923 they made 2,444 visits to the 146 blind people who were on the register. Another activity was the distribution and maintenance of wireless radio sets distributed through the help of volunteers. The Society operated a Holidays Savings Club offering seven shillings for every pound saved by a blind person towards a holiday. The actual arrangement of the holiday, often at the seaside was undertaken by the Society. The work of the Society did not stop there. It bought craft implements for blind people taking up a trade and made money available to people buying a house or needing a housekeeper. Toys and school uniforms were purchased for children. After 1930 however, the grant from central government ceased and funding of the scheme was transferred to the local authority. You can read an example of meeting notes from 1920s, transcribed here. The Depression of the 1930s proved an enormous challenge for CamSight. In Parliament there were calls by Labour for the state to take over all responsibility for blind people but the National Government believed this would remove any incentive for blind people to earn a living. Cambridgeshire had an estimated two hundred blind people in the 1930s and the organisation made sure they were supported. CamSight collaborated with National Institute for the Blind and the National Library for the Blind to try to maintain the activities on offer. Finally, CamSight appealed to the public for funds to make sure visually impaired people did not suffer unduly at a time of deprivation. The only public money CamSight received was the grant from Cambridgeshire County Council but this had to be used for administration and training, not for assisting blind people in poverty. However, money raised by the Society through charitable donation was used for their care. In 1936, the Society actively championed the cause of blind people who were unemployed. Cambridgeshire was one of the few counties that looked after visually impaired people through the Victorian Poor Law which was coming to the end of its long life. The ‘dole’ was administered by the local Public Assistance Committee. On behalf of the Society, Mrs Rackham moved at a council meeting that that blind people should be relieved through the Blind Persons Act. Mrs Rackham disputed that the dole was adequate for the needs of blind people. In her view, an extra five shillings a week should be awarded to three blind people in the area who were destitute. Although Alderman Tebbutt for Cambridgeshire County Council resisted her proposal claiming that it was merely ‘sob stuff’, but the Committee came round to the idea and awarded the money. In terms of the services it provided, the Society was active in promoting the use of Braille as well as other skills useful for work. A young girl who was both deaf and blind, was provided with a home teacher by the Society who helped her to converse with others by manipulating the hand with a special code. The Society also assisted a man who lost his sight in middle age. He was helped to find work he could manage and ended up running a lodging house. The Society also developed a close working relationship with Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. CamSight was organised by a committee of both sexes but is difficult to ignore the contribution of some formidable women, particularly Mrs. Adene. Mrs Adene was the Society’s president in the interwar years and she also chaired the local Maternity and Child Welfare Committee, which sought to prevent blindness in children. Charitable organisations like the Cambridgeshire Society gave women a distinctive social prominence. Mrs. Adene organised sales of goods that, she proudly proclaimed competed in price with goods made by sighted workers. Entertainment was provided through weekly club meetings and summer garden parties. Mrs Adene held a garden party at her home at Babraham Hall, that was attended by blind people from twenty villages in Cambridgeshire. Fund raising activities included local amateur dramatics in which blind members took part. Strong support for the Society’s work at local level came from churches in the Cambridge area. The Society continued to be active in promoting wireless (radio) for blind people and to ensure that sets were made available in many homes. The use of white sticks was an innovation in the 1930s and the Society received a grant for their purchase. The Society also helped to educate the public by arranging for a feature in the local press, which commented that the sticks should encourage sighted people to offer assistance and to allow the blind to ‘walk in the streets in safety and comfort’. It warranted the publication of a photograph of four blind people with their new sticks so that motorists and pedestrians would be aware of its meaning. During the Second World War, the Society played an active part by looking after forty five blind evacuee children. Change came with the end of the war when the county council took over many of its activities. After the war, Cambridgeshire Council took over all responsibility for the care of blind people and brought the Society’s home teachers under its control. The Society retained its shop however and its weekly Friday club for members. The Society became a limited company in 1950.
The Origins of CamSight Two Cambridge ladies, Mrs Stace and Mrs Lilley, enjoyed the friendship of a blind neighbour, Mrs. Chandler. It was Mrs Chandler who suggested that a space should be made available for local blind people to come together for recreation and support. Expand Two Cambridge ladies, Mrs Stace and Mrs Lilley, enjoyed the friendship of a blind neighbour, Mrs. Chandler. It was Mrs Chandler who suggested that a space should be made available for local blind people to come together for recreation and support. Photos: Mrs Lilley (left) and Mrs Stace (right) Mrs Stace rented a parish room at St Andrew’s Church for the afternoon of 28thOctober 1912. They planned a programme which began with a reading, then provided a class in basket weaving. This was followed by an entertainment and finally, tea. From that time Friday afternoons offered a time when blind people in Cambridge could meet for comradeship, learn a new skill and enjoy themselves. Right from the start, the Society’s aim was not simply to provide sympathy and support, but to enable visually impaired people to become self-reliant. This aim continues today. Read Mrs Stace’s profile, transcribed from a newspaper article published at the time. How were blind people looked after before this time? As early as 1791, a school for blind children had been established in Liverpool but there was no systematic help overall. In the Victorian period, much of the work undertaken with blind people varied depending on social class. Whilst the well-off might have individual tuition in Braille or servants to help them, care of blind paupers focused on providing them with a trade rather than teaching them to read. Improvements in health, particularly in surgery and following the decline of diseases like smallpox, had not eradicated blindness but managed to reduce its incidence. What would become the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) had been created in 1868. The organisation initially focused on encouraging the teaching of Braille, but over time it expanded its services to include care homes and, by the 1920s to providing wireless radio access to those in need, as well as other new technologies. The amount of government aid for the poor was extremely limited. Central funding commenced with the 1893 Education Act which required that all children be educated, including those who were blind and partially sighted. How this was to be achieved was not made clear and was often left to local solutions. In these years, basket weaving and craft-work were the mainstay of the Cambridge Society’s activities. The Society was funded by donations and by the sale of goods made by blind people themselves. In 1915, the Blind Workers’ Shop was established at 5 Emmanuel Street, moving to 28 Regent Street in 1938. It sold baskets, wickerwork, knitted items and other goods made by blind people and took orders for the caning of chairs. In 1919, Mrs. Stace was funded by subscriptions from friends to engage a home teacher to visit blind people. This was an important step in the development of the Society and a period of growth for Cam Sight overall. It began to support people in areas surrounding Cambridge and the number of members increased particularly in the aftermath of the Great War. Photos: 'Blind Club' basket weavers (left) and Phillip Brand, blind client, with a model fire engine he made (right)
Timeline A short timeline of the key dates in CamSight's history. Expand 1912 CamSight made an informal start at a meeting held in St Andrew’s Parish Church Hall. Two ladies of well known Cambridge families, Mrs Lilley and Mrs Stace organised a meeting for local blind and partially sighted people to offer support and recreation. 1915 Mrs Lilley and Mrs Stace opened the Blind Worker’s shop at 5 Emmanuel Street, Cambridge. 1919Mrs Stace engaged, a home teacher to visit every blind person known in Cambridge and the surrounding villages once a fortnight. 1921 The Cambridgeshire Society for the Blind and Partially Sighted became a registered charity. 1928 The Blind Worker’s shop moved to 28 Regent Street, Cambridge. 1946 The Blantyre Residential Home was opened at 24 Glisson Road, Cambridge. 1953 The Blantyre Residential Home was extended in 1953. 1954 A smaller house at 35 Glisson Road was added. The leases of these houses were bought from the Society’s accumulated funds with gifts from the Royal National Institute for the Blind, colleges and other bodies. 1985A centre was set up to provide support and information on specialist equipment to blind and partially sighted people living in Cambridgeshire. 1992 The Blantyre Residential Home closed and CamSight moved to 5 Coles Lane, Oakington. 1996 CamSight moved again to 167 Green End Road, Cambridge where it remains to this day. 2008 CamSight opened an office and equipment centre at 2 Victoria Street, Chatteris. 2012 Centenary celebration. 2018CamSight moved from Chatteris to 14 Chapel Road, Wisbech. 2023Wisbech centre closed due to the success of CamSight's Mobile Service. 2025CamSight becomes a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.