A 144-year-old sight loss charity has appointed its first-ever visually impaired chief.

Oxfordshire Association for the Blind (OAB), which also has a visually impaired chair of trustees, is now leading the way among organisations headed by people with disabilities.

Mark Upton, 33, who although registered blind since birth has partial sight, said: “It’s a real honour to be stepping up into this position. Growing up with a visual impairment, I had very little self-esteem or self-worth.

“I was told during a work experience placement that I would struggle to work but perhaps a large supermarket would take me on – they didn’t!

READ ALSO: Bicester based marketing agency helps 11 charities

“I know first-hand some of the struggles and barriers that visually impaired people face day to day. It is a real testament to OAB that a visually impaired person has been appointed as CEO and that we as an organization know and believe that visually impaired people not only can work, but can work in senior roles.”

Mr Upton said it was a sad reflection on society that disabled people haven’t had the opportunities to work in, let alone think about, holding senior positions.

He said: “Times are changing and we want to see more businesses and organisations in the local area employing disabled people.

“It only takes a few simple adjustments and a change in the organisations’ attitude and you could bring in skilled and talented people who have a different perspective.

READ ALSO: Hospitality heroes Coconut Tree helps provide 400 meals for the JR

“Only one in four blind and partially sighted people of working age are in employment.”

OAB was founded in 1877 as the Oxfordshire Association for the Home Teaching of the Blind with the aim of teaching reading and writing and finding work for blind people.

In 1913 the charity ran a shop in Little Clarendon Street where blind people were employed to sell their own work and orders were taken for piano tuning and chair caning.

Having moved from offices in Charlbury to the Rivermead Rehabilitation Hospital in Oxford in 1996, it set up a sight advisory service at Oxford Eye Hospital in 1997.

It is now based in Gordon Woodward Way, on the site of the old Rivermead Hospital which was sold by the NHS.

In 2011 the charity launched a major fundraising campaign to build an annexe which was championed by Colin Dexter, author of the Oxford-based Morse books, who is himself visually impaired.

Challenge

Mr Upton does not underestimate the scale of the challenge as he leads the organisation into a new chapter.

He said: “Not only are our services seeing greater demand because of Covid, we will inevitably face further financial challenges ahead as purse strings become tighter.

“We also have a large and rural county to serve – with an estimated 22,900 people in the county living with sight loss.”

Mr Upton started work for OAB in 2014 as client services manager after working for a similar charity in West Sussex.

He lives in Witney with his wife Erika and their four-month-old baby boy.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.