About us

Our Vision: Henshaws wants a society where anyone affected by sight loss can have choice and control over their future and can live, learn and work as part of their community. We will deliver practical, caring and imagainative services to visually impaired people and to their friends, family and colleagues, and work to raise awareness of visual impairment issues amongst the wider community.

Henshaws Society for Blind People owes its very roots to a philanthropic northern businessman, Thomas Henshaw, whose £20,000 legacy in 1837 laid the foundations of over 170 years of support for blind and visually impaired people.

Henshaws today is certainly very different now to the days of our "Blind Asylum" which stood as a testament to the support of Thomas Henshaw until 1971, when the land was taken over by the Greater Manchester Police Headquarters. The school which it replaced, was set up in Harrogate and is now known as "Henshaws College".

We now operate in three main regions: North West, Yorkshire and North East and have centres in Manchester, Liverpool, Harrogate, Knaresborough and Newcastle, providing a range of educational, residential, day care and community services in response to the needs of blind and visually impaired people of all ages.

Our head office base in John Derby House, Old Trafford, Manchester, is also home to our Greater Manchester Centre, which provides community based support. John Derby House was named after the 18th Earl of Derby, President of Henshaws for 46 years and was officially opened by his nephew, the 19th Earl of Derby.  

As the pages of this website will demonstrate, our service delivery is specialist, exciting, ground-breaking and fun.

Our staff, volunteers and supporters have a simple common aim - that is to continue helping blind & visually impaired by making a difference locally, with services that respond to need.

We are grateful to the many individuals, Trusts, companies and organisations who support Henshaws by making grants & donations, raising sponsorship money or taking part in events. We are also indebted to our dedicated staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to make a difference to the lives of children, young people and adults, who are blind or visually impaired.