Living Paintings volunteers create tactile picture books for blind children

A group of volunteers from the charity Living Paintings have been spending their free time creating hand-crafted, tactile picture books for blind and visually impaired children—racking up millions of views online in the process. The charity has been providing children, families and schools with free access to its books for more than 35 years but has now reached a global audience as its volunteers have become viral sensations on social media.

Among the picture books are classics such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Gruffalo, Elmer and Where the Wild Things Are, which have been adapted into accessible versions that blind children can explore through touch and sound. So far, videos of the volunteers creating the books have accumulated more than 6.7 million views online.

Camilla Oldland, Living Paintings’ chief executive officer, said: "The impact our work has on the lives of blind and visually impaired children will always be the greatest part of our story, but behind the scenes we’re making an impact too. The community of local volunteers here is incredibly special and the work they do is so unique, making a huge difference to the lives of so many. It’s incredible to see how this has really captured the hearts and imaginations of so many people!"

Since their new-found fame, the volunteers have been hand-crafting tactile ornaments to be sent as a thank you to those donating to Living Paintings over the festive period. The decoration features a robin taken from the charity’s adaptation of One Snowy Night by illustrator Nick Butterworth.

Len Webb, 88, has been volunteering with Living Paintings for more than 20 years. He said: "I’m really not used to being in the spotlight and I never expected that I’d be getting all these lovely messages from people around the world, but it’s so nice to see the work of the charity getting all this recognition.

"Volunteering at Living Paintings is a nice thing to do in my retirement, using my woodwork and painting skills for something good. It’s a great sense of community and all for a really wonderful purpose. It’s been really fun to create these Christmas tree decorations too, doing something different that supports the charity’s work."