National Lottery Heritage Grants £10,000 to £250,000
The Beacon Centre was founded to support people with sight loss in 1875. Despite the rich legacy of this community, their history has been largely fragmented, unrecorded and inaccessible.
The Vision Through Time project will capture lived experiences of blind and partially sighted people across the Black Country and South Staffordshire. Paid placements will help people with sight loss to gain skills and confidence by taking an active role in collecting and preserving their history.
The stories gathered will be brought to life through portable exhibitions, tactile displays, digital resources and an audio news platform.
Working in partnership with the Wolverhampton City Archives, the project will also make the city’s archive collections more accessible.
For example, recording audio descriptions of photographs – which depict visually impaired people’s contributions during the Second World War and everyday life – will ensure that this heritage can be experienced by everyone.
Workshops will feature heritage skills important to the sight loss community, such as wicker basket making, to connect past and present experiences.
Lisa Cowley, Beacon Centre Chief Executive, said: “This project is about shining a light on the social history of people with sight loss, preserving their stories and experiences for generations to come.
“By making archives more accessible and ensuring that these voices are heard, we are not only protecting heritage but also laying foundations for a more inclusive future.”
Discover more projects broadening access to heritage.
