CREGIER@UPEI.CA (Sharon Cregier) (05/14/91)
Index Number: 15553
Torch Trust for the Blind
Heath, Stella. 1974. The Torch Family (Torch Trust for the Blind,
Torch House, 4 Hassocks Road, Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, England).
illus. 118p Cost: Originally about $1.00. Foreword by blind
pianist, Peter Jackson.
Handicap Digest subscribers may be interested in this book which
traces the reasons and growth of the Torch Family, members of the
Torch Trust for the blind. For readers who are new to the problems
of the blind, details and diagrams of systems are offered on ways
in which the blind "see": Braille, Moon , Large Print, Manual
alphabet. The concept of a study retreat for the blind began with
a teen girls' Bible study group held in the Heath family home. A
blind member faced problems in the study due to lack of materials
for the blind. By chance, the small magazine for the blind, TORCH,
edited by Ada Trench, an elderly woman, was discovered. Needing
help in her frail years, the editor turned the production of the
magazine over to the Heaths and the club.
Correspondence with the new editors gave rise to a braille lending
library, learning to transcribe books into braille, finding books
in the embossed Moon type, and much else not only for the Torch
subscribers, but also for larger Christian publications.
Battles with Authorities for space, locating housing which would
not endanger the blind, methods of finance, furnishing,
communication, grave setbacks of spirit, help from undreamed of
quarters, go into making a home for the blind where God's work can
be seen in its fullness. The work soon expanded to serve
worldwide.