Hannah, Sophie and Matt from Bournemouth University have spent their final year of study researching the history of our Society. They have produced a fantastic E-Book, Audio Book and an interactive map to tell the story of Bournemouth Blind Society’s history. This is what they had to say:
The earlier Minute Books
When Bournemouth University offered us students the chance to piece together the history of the oldest known independent charity in Bournemouth, we could not wait to start. We met with the Society’s Chief Executive, Philip Tarrant, who explained that they had a collection of documents which had been stored in a cupboard, untouched for over a hundred years. When we arrived at the Society in Moordown, we discovered that he was not exaggerating. We found hundreds of documents dating back to the start of the Society in 1911, war medals, death certificates and most importantly a series of Minute Books from 1911 to 1960.
Medals and Photograph found among the papers
We read through all of the documents and tried to put them all in chronological order to piece the history of the society. We spent time at Bournemouth Library looking through their archive of the Daily Echo and used their microfilm machine to read newspaper articles about the society from the early 1900s. One challenge we faced was reading the handwriting in the old minute books, something that we have now almost perfected!
Interactive Map
We have created an Audio Book and E-Book that tells the story of the Society’s history from 1911 to the present day. We have also created an interactive map so you can see how the Society helped members from all over Bournemouth.
We can honestly say this has been a heart-warming discovery from start to finish. We have discovered how the Rooper Sisters and Mr Homer came together to start the Society after they became aware of ten blind people in the area who they felt would benefit directly from assistance. 80 years on and the Society was helping over 1,200 people who were blind or visually impaired. It was thanks to the selfless volunteers, that gave up their free time to help the blind, that the Society became a fantastic support network for the visually impaired and the humbling work that they did still continues today.
Recording the Audio Book
The Society was and still is at the centre of Bournemouth’s community, with donations from Sir Russell-Cotes in the 1920’s to a royal visit from His Royal Highness Prince Edward in 2007, the work of Bournemouth Blind Society has not gone without recognition and we are here to relive those moments and bring their extensive history back to life.
It is true to say that without Bournemouth Blind Society, life would have been a lot harder for their members in a world still learning about the causes of blindness and a world recovering from two world wars.
This is the interactive map that we have created so you can see just how much the Society helped their members in and around Bournemouth.