Our history

Deafblind Scotland is the offspring of Deafblind UK, an organisation which began life in 1928 as the National Deafblind Helpers’ League. Founded by a small group of relatives and friends of deafblind people, Deafblind UK has now become one of the leading authorities on acquired deafblindness.

In the mid 1980s a survey of the Scottish members resulted in a decision to establish a base in Scotland. On 1st September 1989 Drena O’Malley took up post as part-time Liaison Officer working two days per week, based in a borrowed office in Barrowfield Deafblind Complex. Over the next five years membership and numbers grew and the office became too small.

In 1994 the operation moved to Lenzie, beside the railway station and from that day Deafblind Scotland has never looked back. The guide/communicator service was established the following year with a handful of deafblind people receiving a service of 1000 hours per annum. In the year 2005/06 Deafblind Scotland will have provided 45,000 hours of service to 110 people.

In 1997 the first ground-breaking Scottish Advisory Group on Deafblindness meeting was held in East Dunbartonshire. The idea behind SAGOD was to make a formal meeting fully accessible to deafblind people. And sure enough, the idea of establishing a separate, self-governing Scottish organisation was soon conceived.

Eventually, in 2001, after much hard work, Deafblind Scotland was launched with a ‘Hands Around Scotland’ relay. To gain publicity, members were sponsored to carry the Deafblind Scotland flag across the length and breadth of the country by unusual means. A total of 45 deafblind people managed to cover a distance of 2000 miles in a whole range of methods of transport, from a Harley Davidson to a hearse. And so Deafblind Scotland was born with a brand new board of directors, seven of whom were themselves deafblind.

Much has changed in Deafblind Scotland since 1989 – the name of the charity, its location and its size. However, steadfastly remaining is the ethos
that deafblind people should run their own organisation; that they should always comprise more than 50% of the Board; that the guide/communicator service is essential if deafblind people are to be truly independent.

Drena O’Malley, the lady who came into post in 1989, has stayed with the charity. Now in a slightly different role, she is still committed to, in her own words,”the most amazing group of people one could ever work for.”