AN Essex charity, which has been a lifeline for thousands of blind and partially-sighted people, is about to celebrate its 90th anniversary.

The Essex Blind Charity was formed in 1920 when the Clothworkers’ Company, in London, provided premises for the group.

At First, servicemen who had fought in the First World War were the primary recipients of help, being given radios and places in residential homes.

Today, the charity supports mainly elderly residents who are losing their sight, as three quarters of people over 75 have some kind of visual impairment.

Vanda Watling, a fundraiser at Read House, Frinton, which offers a home to people with sight problems, has compiled a brief history of the charity.

Using annual reports and accounts as her main sources, she estimates the number of people helped by the charity is approaching half a million.

She said: “From what I can find out, it became urgent to start a charity in the Twenties because a lot of soldiers had lost their sight, and it just went from there.

“They were providing wireless sets to begin with. Then there are all the people who came into the residential homes.”

The radios were crucial for blind people as they were often one of the few ways to access and hear about the outside world.

The other main focus of the charity, led by benefactors, such as members of the Courtauld industralists, was to find accommodation for people according to their degree of blindness.

Unsurprisingly, after the Second World War, this work continued, with the charity managing homes requisitioned and equipped by the Ministry of Health.

The charity also began employing staff to provide blind people with an education, distributing gifts of coal and postal orders at Christmas, and offering holidays.

With the help of Essex County Council’s welfare committee, the charity grew in the Fifties, with social clubs and fundraising exhibitions and functions.

But, by 1969, financial problems became so bad that chairman Lady Dorothy Read had to seek expert advice, which resulted in modernisation and the creation of a head office in Chelmsford.

Mrs Watling says there is a gap in the records until 1987, when Lady Read welcomed Diana, Princess of Wales, to a number of homes in Frinton.

At this point, homes and flats also existed in Wanstead and Leytonstone, on the Essex borders, but in the Nineties these closed, with the exception of Read House, in Frinton.

With advances in technology, the charity is now changing focus away from residential houses and towards helping elderly people in their own homes.

With the help of development officer Sue Barrell, the charity runs 11 resource centres and provides home visits in much of the county, including Colchester.

The former Essex County Association for the Blind, which became the Essex Blind Charity in 2004, also now has a helpline on 0870 2405418. It runs hospital eye clinic support groups, and helps organise a network of social clubs.

Colchester Business Centre, in George Williams Way, is now the home of the charity’s offices, and the Colchester resource centre.

Mrs Watling said the resource centres, which offer information, advice and demonstrations of aids and equipment designed to help people with eyesight problems, were inspiring to visit.

She added: “There was a blind lady who explained how she carried on as normally as she could.

“It was fantastic to see. She was even doing her own ironing.

“For most people in Essex, who become visually impaired, we are the only agency to which they can turn for advice and sympathy.

“We know we are providing essential services, and we are determined to win the battle.”