Donation of £1,000 by the Bucks Masonic Centenary Fund to help produce Braille books for young sight-impaired children

The Braille Machine with a copy of ‘Scruffy the Uffy’. Image supplied by Buckinghamshire Freemasons.

A donation of £1,000 has recently been made by the Bucks Masonic Centenary Fund (BMCF) to help produce Braille books for young sight-impaired children.

In 2018 Buckinghamshire Freemasons raised over £3,500 (which included a donation of £500 from Winslow Lions) to buy a Braille machine for young Dexter Ward who is severely visually impaired. The machine enabled Dexter’s parents to make him Braille books as there are very few available for young children.

Since 2018 four books have been produced which follow the adventures of ‘Scruffy the Uffy’. All the books are in giant font, tactile and in Braille. The illustrations in the books have been prepared with sight impairment in mind.

Dexter’s mother, Julie-Ann, soon received requests for the books from other families with sight impaired children. To make each book cost £8 and take an hour to produce so the recent £1,000 donation from the BMCF will make it possible for Dexter’s mother to produce many more books.

*Source of article : Press release from Buckinghamshire Freemasons.