Starting in 1875 as the Wolverhampton Society for the Blind, the Beacon Centre offers help to local people with sight loss providing facilities and support. 

When the charity first began, its purpose was to visit blind people in the area and give them an opportunity to learn to read by deciphering embossed type.

While the support they offer to their service users has changed vastly since then one thing has remained the same, they are dedicated to helping people with sight loss live a fuller, more independent life.

In 1882 the charity acquired a house in Alexandra Street where five blind men could work and in 1899 it is became one of the first charities in the UK to open its own shop. The retail unit, on Victoria Street in Wolverhampton, sold baskets, chair seating and mats which had been made by the men and women based in a workshop on the same site.