Bringing Pictures To Life For Blind And Partially Sighted People Both Young And Old

Now, imagine the excitement of a 4 year old blind child on discovering the pictures of ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ for the very first time. And the joy for an 80 year old, who has never seen, as they experience the enigmatic smile of the ‘Mona Lisa’. Something they thought they’d never do.

The work of The Living Paintings Trust, a national charity, stimulates new interests and feeds the imagination of blind and partially sighted people. We achieve this by designing and manufacturing unique touch and sound packs. These are delivered to any visually impaired person anywhere in the UK or Ireland via a postal library service.

“Lucy read the Living Picture Book you sent us on her own and sometimes she read it to her sighted brother of 3½ years old. They didn’t want to let the book leave the house, they wanted to keep it forever.”

The Service is completely free of charge to the fast growing number of visually impaired people we reach. It is a principle of the Trust that we ensure that all those seeking to benefit from the Service can do so without the constraints of location or money.

Working on an annual budget of only £200,000 - £240,000 our work benefits over 5,000 blind and partially sighted people.

“Words cannot express how I felt when I opened the box containing these pictures. I am a totally blind widower and spend most of the days on my own. I have been blind for many years and vaguely remember colours. I am just so excited about this marvellous new adventure. I cannot thank you enough for bringing such joy and pleasure into my life.”

The Living Paintings Trust

We present the visual images to be shared in the form of unique touch and sound packs that we create ourselves. Each of these is made available for loan via our free, postal Library Service. There is a wide range of topics available within our packs which are especially designed for adults and children that can be used both at home and in school.

The essential components of all our touch and sound packs are threefold:

1.	Raised images, known as thermoforms, which explain the special shape and characteristics of the pictures that are being “looked” at through touch;	Works of art from the royal collection.
2.	Audio descriptions which tell the stories of the pictures, describe their wonderful visual features and provide instructions for touching and interpreting the thermoforms;
3.	Colour reproductions of the pictures that, very importantly, make it possible for the packs to be shared with sighted friends, family and peers.

With adults we share collections of works of art that are carefully brought together to reflect the interests of those we seek to help whilst providing access to the visual treasures to be found across the UK and further afield. Subjects covered range from painting, through sculpture to architecture dating across the centuries to the modern day.

	For children there is a fast growing range of packs. They include Living Picture Books which bring the magical world of illustrated story books to life and Teacher Resource Packs which are designed to include visually impaired pupils in the visual aspect of everyday classroom studies.
In the Rain with Baby Duck

We receive no statutory funding and so all our work is made possible by the generous support of those who choose to make donations. The money they give goes as far as it does thanks to an amazing group of volunteers who help us with all aspects of our work.

If you know someone who could benefit from our Free Library Service please contact us on 01635 299 771. The Service is made as easy to use as possible.

Who we are
Our work is overseen by a team of Trustees with varied skills and interests including art, business strategy, charity sector, education, finance, human resources, law. One of our Trustees is blind while another is a teacher of visually impaired children. Our Charity Director, Camilla Oldland has managed the Trust’s activities for 12 years. She is assisted by 5 experienced staff, 2 full time and 3 part time. The Trust is strongly supported by an amazing team of 120 volunteers. They give of their time to help produce the packs, provide the postal Library Service and liase with our Library Members. They make it possible for the money given to go as far as it does.

Some might wonder why all these people are there for us, committing so much of their time and energy. The answer is the children and the adults who cannot see and for whom our work means so much. They are our friends, they are why we are here and daily they let us know how important it is for us to continue.

Recognition of our work
We are a small national charity benefiting an ever-increasing number of blind and partially sighted people, now over 5,100. Since our ground breaking work began15 years ago the Trust has been fortunate to have its achievements recognised by others: the receipt of a prestigious National Arts Collections Fund award for “an outstanding contribution to the creative arts”; our founder and Chairman, Alison Oldland, receiving the first Guardian/Jerwood Award for individual excellence in the charity field and the MBE; a Lottery Fund grant of £92,000 in 1996 to develop work with young people; and a Foundation for Sport and the Arts grant of £60,000 in 1999, which helped the Trust acquire its premises, thus providing more stability for the future operation of its Library Service.

However, as much as this recognition is important, it is the growth of our work and what it means to our beneficiaries which is our real success.

Our future
Not only are we working hard to keep up with our growth but we are also looking to the future in the most positive way – we have a Development Programme – ShareVision 2010 - that is ready to be implemented as soon as we have the financial security.