History
St Dunstan's was founded by Arthur Pearson, who had himself lost his sight due to glaucoma. Because of the increasing numbers of British soldiers returning from the front lines during the First World War suffering from blindness, Pearson established a hostel for these soldiers. His intention was that, with training and assistance, the former soldiers could go on to lead productive lives and would not have to depend on charity. On his death in 1922 the Chairmanship fell to Ian Fraser, who was blinded in the war, and held the post for 52 years. The most notable recent resident was World War I veteran Henry Allingham, born 1896, who was briefly the oldest man in the world until his death in 2009.
During the Second World War, from 1940 to 1946, St Dunstan's was based in the town of Church Stretton, Shropshire.
In 2012 St Dunstan's was renamed and rebranded as Blind Veterans UK.
Read more about this topic: Blind Veterans UK
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“This above all makes history useful and desirable: it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.”
—Titus Livius (Livy)
“The reverence for the Scriptures is an element of civilization, for thus has the history of the world been preserved, and is preserved.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A man acquainted with history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the world, and to have been making continual additions to his stock of knowledge in every century.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)