British Wireless for the Blind Fund

Founded by Sir Ernest Beachcroft Beckwith Towse in 1928, the organisation provides adapted radios and audio players on free loan to registered blind and partially sighted UK residents over the age of eight, where hardship circumstances can be demonstrated by receipt of a means-tested benefit.

British Wireless for the Blind Fund has been providing specially adapted radios to visually impaired people for more than 80 years.

For people with sight loss, life becomes a challenge; not just the difficulty of getting out and about, but also the everyday tasks that we take for granted - like turning on the radio in the morning to listen to the news, so the charity exists to help improve the daily lives of visually impaired people, who are unable to afford a specially adapted radio, by providing the equipment on free loan.

BWBF is committed to providing a choice of high quality, specially adapted radio and audio sets on a free loan basis, undertaking to repair or replace equipment free of charge if necessary and is also committed to monitoring new developments in radio technology and endeavouring to adapt these to the needs of recipients where possible.

It is made up of a small team of 17 staff, most based at its head office in Maidstone, Kent, and four regional development managers who work around the country.

British Wireless for the Blind Fund (BWBF) was founded in 1928 by Ernest Beachcroft Beckwith Towse, who had lost his eyesight in action during the Boer War.

And then supposing someone came and put a little instrument in your hands which you could hold to your ear and suddenly listen for hours at a time to music, songs, dances... and all that these inspiring programmes offer.

BWBF collaborated with Roberts Radio[17] in the early 1950s to produce new models suitable for those whose lack of vision meant they had difficulty using a standard set.

Bush also continued to make radios for BWBF and their VTR set issued in 1970 had a non-tilting aerial with a smooth plastic moulding on the tip to prevent accidental eye damage.

This gave visually impaired people the additional option of listening to pre-recorded music and books and of recording messages to send to friends and family.

The CS1 1318 model saw the new usage of yellow control knobs against a charcoal grey body set to provide a colour contrast to help those people who had some residual sight.

With the move to compact discs for storage of data, a CD player was added to the range of features of the Roberts specially adapted sets.

The ‘Concerto 2 ‘ set, first issued in 2011 is both a DAB and FM radio, can play tapes, CDs, and files from an SD card or a USB memory stick.

It has a built-in microphone and headphone socket, controls with tactile symbols, a large backlit LCD display and can be mains or battery-powered.

In 2017, BWBF launched Bumblebee an easy to use app, specially designed to meet the changing needs of the people we support and to unlock the digital world for those with sight loss.

It has been developed by experts at British Wireless who have worked closely with blind and partially sighted people to ensure the product meets differing needs.

Bumblebee provides access to thousands of radio stations, podcasts, talking newspapers and magazines, online content pages and a wealth of useful information, all from one portable device.

Part of the exclusivity of Bumblebee is the user-led content aspect, where listeners can essentially create their own personalised audio library in their pocket.

Applications Talking Newspaper Speech Radio harnesses technology that has never before been used in a mobile app to allow the user to control its functionality and operations entirely by voice.

Alexa Skill Our own Natural Language Programming allows the service to take the user's voice input, convert it into text and then decide what function to bring from this result.

The objects fall within subsection 3 (1) of the Charities Act 2011 relating to the relief of those in need, by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage.

British Wireless for the Blind Fund is a not-for-profit charity which relies primarily on public donations, legacies and grants to sustain its operations.