Our History

Established 24th March 1881, a home was set up on Ardconnel Street, Inverness which provided education and employment opportunities to blind and visually impaired individuals in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The home accommodated 18 blind scholars for an annual payment of £10 – including education.

Pupils who resided in the House were aged 8-16 years old, and besides ordinary education were taught industrial employment skills in preparation for working life. Boys were taught the art of basket weaving, while girls were taught sewing skills. It was not until the early 1900s that BlindCraft progressed into the bed-making industry, and a new shop was built on Castle Street, Inverness.

1918 saw BlindCraft open the doors to their current factory at 39 Ardconnel Street, Inverness and later added the shop alongside a store on Castle Street. The factory has been extended and modernised over the years and is home to the design, manufacturing and production of high-quality products handmade by locally employed individuals.

Today Highland BlindCraft is still run with the same concept, although now we provide opportunities to individuals with a variety of disabilities. Even though BlindCraft is no longer a school we continue to provide development and training opportunities to all our team members should they wish to partake. Much of the training, such as I.T. Skills, Numeracy, and Literacy Training, is provided to develop knowledge and confidence in the hope that one day the participant can progress into unsupported employment.

Since the factory’s beginning, we have developed our product and service range from basket weaving to bed and mattress manufacturing. Continuing to develop our product range to include; headboards, divan bed bases, footstools, ottomans and much more, all handmade in our Inverness factory.