A North Shields charity that helps people who are visually impaired is celebrating its 150th anniversary, with several events being put on throughout the year to mark the tremendous milestone.
Pearey House Centre For Visually Impaired's origins date back to 1873, when the original organisation was established as the Northumberland and Durham home Teaching Society.
Then in 1884 the name was changed to the Northern Counties Blind Society, putting more of a focus on the visually impaired, before becoming the Tynemouth Blind Welfare Society in 1924.
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Today, Pearey House is a social hub for blind and visually impaired adults in North Tyneside, who visit the centre and its facilities on a weekly basis.
These facilities include a gym, a computer suite therapy room, and a library full of audio books. The charity aim to be accessible and responsive to all of their service users as they have been for 150 years.
The latest phase in the growth of Pearey House is opening The Iris Community Hub, a second building that acts as a 'shop front' for people in the community, in an effort to combat social isolation in the community.
It is also going to be used to give more young people the opportunity to volunteer for Pearey House, with 16-21 year olds being given the chance to use their time in a way that helps other people.
Helen Farrow, the manager at Pearey House, said: "We are a small charity and always have been. so reaching the 150 year mark is a massive achievement and something that I think we should really be shouting about.
"In 2015, we developed into a Charitable Incorporated Organisation which allowed us to bring in new people with new ideas. We created a gym on site, and brought in more ways for visually impaired people to socialise.
"We have already had a massive party for the 150 year celebration, but things will be happening all year. The plan is to have 80's nights and games nights to get as many people involved as possible."
