Sir Cyril Arthur Pearson (1866-1921) was a successful proprietor of a number of magazines and newspapers including the Standard and Evening Standard, when he began to lose his sight as a result of glaucoma in 1910, at the age of forty-four. Not a man to be beaten by such a disability, Pearson immediately set out to discover the possibilities and opportunities open to the blind and by 1912, had become President of the National Institute of the Blind.
A great believer in enabling the blind to acquire skills which would allow them to lead self-sufficient lives, Pearson set up a hostel for blinded soldiers in February 1915, at first in Bayswater before moving a month later to spacious premises in Regent's Park. At first, sixteen men were admitted but such was the number of men whose sight had been destroyed, that by the end of the first year, 1500 men had been in residence. St. Dunstan's Hostel for Blinded Soldiers and Sailors offered a detailed programme of care, guidance and training for men who had lost their sight as a result of war.
Volunteers with the charity would visit hospitals in France and England, tracing blinded men and registering them for St. Dunstan's. The first stage of their rehabilitation would be movement to the London General Hospital in Chelsea where principal wards were devoted to the care of blinded soldiers and sailors. Through a kind of outreach scheme, men would be given help in writing letters and received their first lessons in reading braille and using a typewriter. Women volunteers would visit to read books and newspapers to them daily and patients would be kept busy with craft activities such as making string bags. Cars would be sent from St. Dunstan's so that the men could visit the Regent's Park hostel and familiarise themselves with the environment before being discharged and becoming inmates, though the charity was keen to encourage men to visit their homes, and to bring their families to stay for short periods.
At St. Dunstan's, men could choose to learn a number of different trades including basket-making, mat-making, carpentry and boot-repairing. There was a model farm where poultry farming skills were acquired and in another classroom, massage was taught. Others trained in shorthand, typing and as telephone operators. Those who passed a typewriting proficiency test became the proud owner of a new Remington typewriter and braille machines were presented when pupils reached a certain standard. While training, men were paid 5 shillings a week which was invested at an interest rate of 10% and entertainment was provided almost every evening - the men themselves even took part in revues which then toured London hospitals.
This holistic approach extended to an After-Care department where the hostel remained in touch with former inmates once they had found employment, and even children of blinded soldiers or sailors each received 5 shillings a week up to the age of sixteen. Testimonials from employers or from men themselves confirmed St. Dunstan's effectiveness as an institution which offered rehabilitation, practical skills - and hope - to men who may have originally felt the future offered them very little.
One advertisement in The Tatler in 1918, which appealled for funds, gave the example of one man, 'Rifleman H. Colville of the Queen's Westiminsters, a shorthand writer who had returned to his job at the Asiatic Petroleum Company and had since been promoted twice. The company wrote to St. Dunstan's anxious to point out that, "he is treated entirely as one of the normal members of staff.' Another, Private Harry Cook of the East Lancashire Regiment successfully trained as a masseur at a salary of £3 a week and reported that he was about to commence a course at Liverpool University on advanced anatomy, physiology, massage and electricity.
Celebrities and society enthusiastically supported St. Dunstan's. The actress Lily Elsie, best known for her role in the Merry Widow was a regular visitor to the hostel, lighting cigarettes for the men and acting as cox in the rowing team. In fact the rowing team were tremendously successful. In July 1914, they were victorious in a regatta where they beat students of Westminster College in two out of three races, a feat all the more remarkable as none of the men had ever rowed before prior to coaching.
Arthur Pearson never considered blindness an 'affliction.' Instead, he thought of it as a handicap which through patience and perserverance could be surmounted. It was a maxim that was embodied in the spirit of St. Dunstan's and led to Pearson being lauded, 'the blind leader of the blind.' Today, St. Dunstan's is known as Blind Veterans UK. Their motto is one which Sir Arthur would have approved - Life beyond Sight Loss.
http://www.maryevans.com/lb.php?ref=22519
Luci Gosling