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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—Derek Wall (b. 1965)
“Books of natural history aim commonly to be hasty schedules, or inventories of God’s property, by some clerk. They do not in the least teach the divine view of nature, but the popular view, or rather the popular method of studying nature, and make haste to conduct the persevering pupil only into that dilemma where the professors always dwell.”
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“It’s nice to be a part of history but people should get it right. I may not be perfect, but I’m bloody close.”
—John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten)