ABSTRACT
The existing system of Blind Welfare is an elaboration of many local voluntary efforts which have been gradually extended into a national system. From 1791, when the first Institute for the Blind in Great Britain was established by Edward Rushton in Liverpool, to the passing of the Blind Persons Act in 1920, the system of welfare, though widely extended, was necessarily partial and incomplete. Home workers schemes, according to the latest return, employed 1,527 blind workers in England and Wales. They enable blind workers to carry on trades in their homes, buying their material and, to some extent, selling it. For the unemployable blind, domiciliary assistance and home visiting are services of outstanding importance. For home visiting, the majority of local agencies engage home teachers who have taken the Certificate of the College of Teachers of the Blind, which demands knowledge of Braille, Moon and handcrafts.
