Sense - the key milestones
1955 Sense is set up as The Rubella Group with ten founder families. There is no provision for deafblind children other than one small unit. The Group begins by sharing information and pressing for services to meet the needs of pre-school and young children, and their parents.
1956 23 families are in touch through the Group.
1961 The Rubella Group registers as a charity. There is a further epidemic of rubella. The founders visit schools around the country, hoping to encourage special units for children. 1
1966 The Group becomes The National Association for Deafblind and Rubella Handicapped Children.
1970 Rubella immunisation for schoolgirls begins.
1974 The Association drops the word 'children' from its title as the beneficiaries are growing up. The first holiday programme is held.
1975 The first head office is set up in Coventry and the Association begins lobbying for training and housing provision for young adults.
1980 The Magpie Appeal on ITV raises funds to open Manor House near Peterborough, the first UK centre of its kind for young adults, providing housing, training and education.
1981 The Association's first Director - Rodney Clark - is appointed. The Association begins discussions with the Government about the release of deafblind people from mental hospitals, where many have been cared for.
1982 The Ealing Family Centre opens to assess young children and support parents, and the Family Advisory Service is launched. The head office is moved to London and begins fundraising to extend its services.
1983 The Association becomes Sense and begins to provide services to a new group of people, those with Usher syndrome.
1985 Services begin in Scotland. The first group home opens in Market Deeping, Peterborough to provide supported independence to young adults.
1986 Sense becomes the sole trustee of the Royal School for Deaf Children in Birmingham and develops further education and residential facilities for young people. This becomes Sense Midlands. Sense opens its first shop, in Petts Wood, Kent.
1987 The Overbridge Continuing Education Centre opens in Glasgow. Sense's income tops £1 million for the first time. Sense, as part of a consortium, produces a ground-breaking report 'Breaking Through' which still influences social services planning.
1989 After years of Sense campaigns, the Government publishes the first guidelines on the education of deafblind children. HRH The Princess Royal becomes Sense's patron. Sense South West is set up.
1990 Sense is established in Northern Ireland.
1991 The Glasgow Family Resource Centre opens.
1992 The first intervenor service begins in Lincolnshire, providing weekly support to families at home. The Advocacy project is launched, helping deafblind people to express their views.
1993 Sense Cymru is launched in Wales. The Family Resource Centre in Bristol opens.
1994 Sense has 38 group homes. Communicator-guide services are set up, providing regular one-to-one support for mainly elderly people. Sense International is set up to share Sense expertise with projects around the world.
1995 Sense South East is established.
1996 Sense North is established and opens Melton House a day service for deafblind adults.
1998 Sense acquires its first residential care homes for older people. The Horizon employment project starts, training young people for possible entry into open employment. The first deafblind member of Council is appointed.
1999 Sense organises its first mass lobby of Parliament at which over 200 Deafblind people and their supporters argue for more support under the banner 'Yes to Access'.
2000 Sense launches the ‘See the Person’ campaign to encourage service providers - shops, restaurants, banks - to meet the needs of deafblind consumers. Sense rebrands with a new logo to reflect its work more accurately.
2001 Success for the "Yes to Access" campaign, with the introduction of new guidance requiring local authorities to assess deafblind people's needs and provide appropriate services. Recognition of Rodney Clark OBE, who retired after 20 years of leading Sense, with the opening of the Rodney Clark Resource Centre in Leeds – offering educational opportunities and a ICT centre for deafblind people in the region.
2002 Sense sets up two new Saturday Clubs for deafblind children and their families in Barnet and near Leeds, as well as new summer play schemes in Sense Northern Ireland and Scotland. Sense sets up the Hearing and Sight Impaired Group for hearing aid users with impaired sight.
2003 Sense is playing a key role in the Early Support Pilot Programme, a Government initiative to improve services for families with disabled children under three. With much excitement - and some sadness - we closed the Princess Royal Centre in Birmingham to move to new premises. The new Birmingham resource centre houses teaching rooms, Sense Online (our ICT Learning Centre) and office accommodation.
2004 Sense launches the National Collaborative Usher Study with the Institute of Child Health and the Institute of Ophthalmology . The study is aimed at linking information about the severity and type of hearing, balance and vision loss in people with Usher together with the particular gene that causes their disorder.
2005 Sense celebrates its 50th anniversary. Commemorative events include a hugely successful family weekend and conference as well as a series of prestigious lecture at the Royal Institution.
2006 Sense launches the Fill in the Gaps campaign aimed at securing the support needed by older people who have developed a dual sensory loss.
2007 A new children’s service is launched in the North working with 42 children and young people and their families.
2008 Sense hosts the Deafblind International Co-Creating Communication with Persons with Congenital Deafblindness Conference in Leeds. Speakers and delegates came from all over the world to share expertise and innovative practice.
2009 Sense launches its new year Five Year Plan, “It’s in our hands”, aimed at addressing the changing face of social care provision. The government reissues statutory guidance about services for deafblind people and circulated it to local authorities with a Local Authority Circular document.
2010 Gill Morbey, OBE, formerly Chief Executive of Sense Scotland becomes Sense's Chief Executive.
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