Royal Society for Blind Children opens new Tower Bridge centre named after Richard Desmond

The Royal Society for Blind Children has opened a new centre in Tower Bridge named after entrepreneur Richard Desmond.

The Richard Desmond Life Without Limits Centre will support blind and partially sighted children, young people and their families.

The former Express owner donated part of the building of his company Northern & Shell for the innovative new centre.

The RSBC is a charity that supports blind and partially sighted children, young people, and their families.

The non-profit organisation was initially founded in 1838, with the intention of teaching blind children how to read.

As well as focusing on learning and education, the RSBC also offers a dedicated families’ service, called Families First - in order to provide sufficient support for the whole family.

Who is Richard Desmond?

Richard Desmond is a British publisher and businessman, known for being the founder of Northern & Shell, a publishing group in which runs The Health Lottery, and publishes celebrity magazine, OK!

Desmond was listed as being the 107th richest person in the UK, according to the 2021 Sunday Times Rich List .

In 2000, Desmond’s company, Northern & Shell acquired Express Newspapers for £125 million. He went on to expand the publication group to include the Daily, and Sunday Express newspapers.

In 2018, Reach PLC bought the Express and Star, and last year Desmond sold his shares in the company exiting the UK media market.

The Richard Desmond Life Without Limits Centre

The RSBC charity has now moved into the new Richard Desmond Life Without Limits Centre.

This centre will act as a hub for the RSBC throughout England and Wales, and will be located within the Northern & Shell building - near Tower Bridge.

The new location of the charity will be a vibrant and engaging space for blind and partially sighted children, young people and their families.

It has been specifically designed to allow children and young people to feel comfortable and supported as they take part in activities both at the centre, and through virtual sessions.

Such activities will include making music, song writing, and writing poetry.

The state-of-the-art media suite will allow children to create their own digital content, and the kitted-out accessible kitchen will be used for cookery lessons, or cook-a-longs via online sessions.

Chief executive Sue Sharp said: “All of us at RSBC have seen how the lives of blind and partially sighted children and young people can be transformed with the right support.

We believe that The Richard Desmond Life Without Limits Centre delivers on that ambition and provides the infrastructure to enable us to support many more to achieve their dreams.”