Galloway's Society for the Blind, also known as Galloways, is a charity based in Lancashire, England, which supports people with

sight loss Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

. It is one of Lancashire's oldest charities, established in 1867 following a public meeting in the Corn Exchange, Preston. It was originally the Preston Industrial Institute for the Blind, then the Institute for Blind Welfare and until 2000 the Preston and North Lancashire Blind Welfare Society. It is now named after William Wilding Galloway, a cotton merchant from Preston who left £40,000 to local charities including £10,000 to the society when he died in 1936.Information about William Wilding Galloway and the first two names of the Society was provided by the Society on its Facebook page 10 March 2012 The Society renamed itself in July 2000, to avoid its cumbersome previous name which was commonly abbreviated to the ambiguous "The Blind Society" and to honour its greatest benefactor. The charity now provides many services to over 7000 blind and visually impaired people across the county from its headquarters in

Penwortham Penwortham () is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, on the south bank of the River Ribble facing the city of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The town is at the most westerly crossing point of the river, with major road and rail links cr ...

near Preston and its offices in

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

and Southport. The charity has developed an extensive programme of adult education and works in partnership with

Lancashire College Lancashire Adult Learning is an adult education college located in Lancashire, England . Courses offered by the college are aimed primarily at adult learners rather than recent school leavers, and include short courses, weekly courses, ESOL pro ...

The Adult College, Lancaster The Adult College was an adult education college located in the centre of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. The college was established in 1975, and moved to a site on Quarry Road overlooking the Lancaster Canal in 1990. The Adult College was ...

, and

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control. Prior to the 2009 La ...

. The provision of Talking Newspapers and Magazines is another one of its services producing over 3500 USB memory sticks and CDs each week. Current titles include ''Lancashire Evening Post'', ''Ormskirk Advertiser'', ''Lancaster Guardian & Morecambe Visitor'', ''Longridge News'', ''Garstang Courier'', ''Farmers Guardian'', ''

Methodist Recorder The ''Methodist Recorder'' is an independent weekly newspaper that examines events and current affairs within the Methodist community in Britain and worldwide. It has been published continuously since 1861, absorbing its major rivals the ''Watchman ...

'', ''The Catholic Voice'', ''

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

War Cry'', and ''Asian Awaz'' in Urdu. The charity provides Blind Awareness training to local organisations and undertakes Braille and CD transcription services. Galloways operates four Sight Advice Centres across Lancashire at Chorley, Preston, Southport and Morecambe from where a range of specialist equipment is available. The Society relies on legacies and donations to fund its activities and needs to raise over £1 million each year. A regular fund-raising event is the annual walk across Morecambe Bay, which in 2017 had to be cancelled twice because

Queen's Guide to the Sands The King's Guide to the Sands, or, during the reign of a female monarch, Queen's Guide to the Sands, is the royally appointed guide to crossing the sands of Morecambe Bay, an ancient and potentially dangerous tidal crossing in northwest Englan ...

Cedric Robinson could not find a safe route because of high water levels. The social enterprise cafe "Brew Me Sunshine" in Morecambe, operated in association with Galloways, won the 2021 award for "Work and Training Social Enterprise of the Year" from Selnet, the Social Enterprise Lancashire Network. Its name derives from the Morecambe and Wise song " Bring Me Sunshine".

References

External links

* * * (history of Galloway's Society) Blindness organisations in the United Kingdom Charities for disabled people based in the United Kingdom Health and disability rights organisations in the United Kingdom Charities based in Lancashire {{UK-charity-stub