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Home > News Articles > Blessed by braille –a bicentennial celebration!
Blessed by braille –a bicentennial celebration!
PUBLISHED - 4th April 2025
Two hundred years ago, braille was invented by Louis Braille, a young French person who said: “Access to communication in the widest sense is access to knowledge, and that is vitally important for us if we [blind people] are not to go on being despised or patronised by condescending sighted people. We do not need pity, nor do we need to be reminded we are vulnerable. We must be treated as equals – and communication is the way this can be brought about.”
Would Louis be surprised to know the massive impact his dream of better communication has had on the world? Here at Torch Trust, we’re celebrating braille’s bicentenary and the huge difference it makes for our clients to be able to access scripture and other Christian writings in a language which works for them. Since the beginning, braille has been important to Torch and although many changes have happened, from technological advances to the switch to UEB, braille is still, for many, the lifeblood of the organisation.
Our clients certainly tell us this, one person recently got in touch to say: ‘Please ensure you keep sending me The Torch magazine in braille. It’s a lovely magazine and I really enjoy it.’ Another client wanted to make sure we knew: ‘I have received my order for singing the Faith braille hymn book and I am extremely pleased with it. Thank you very much.’ It’s wonderful to know that the work we produce means so much to those who receive it.
So let us celebrate this bicentennial year together, giving thanks for this wonderful lifeline which enables us to reach so many with God’s love! Amen.
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