'We were founded on 16 October 1868 as the British and Foreign Society for Improving the Embossed Literature of the Blind. The first meeting, at 33 Cambridge Square, London, involved our founder, Dr Armitage (partially sighted), Daniel Conolly (blind), WW Fenn (blind), and Dr James Gale (blind).'
After undergoing a succession of name changes in the decades that followed: 'Our name was officially changed to the Royal National Institute for the Blind in 1953, having received the Royal Charter in 1949. In 2002 our name changed to the Royal National Institute of the Blind rather than ‘for’ blind people when we became a Membership organisation. To coincide with the launch of the UK Vision Strategy in 2008, we renamed ourselves the Royal National Institute of Blind People.'
Source: 'Who We Are: Our History', RNIB website
