In 1892 the Wolverhampton Society for the Blind acquired a house in Alexandra Street where five blind men could work. By 1899 it had workshops and a retail outlet where baskets, chair seating and mats were woven and sold.

In 1925 the Society centralised all its operations in the Central Arcade and the following year it changed its name to the Wolverhampton, Dudley and Districts Institutions for the Blind to reflect its increased area of operation. In 1961 it purchased seven acres of land at Sedgley from the Earl of Dudley and in 1963 a new centre was opened.   This included a concert hall, canteen, handicraft centre, Braille library, offices and a large single storey building containing workshops. During the second half of the 1960s, two of the workshops were used to provide visually impaired people with employment in the engineering field, marking the creation of the Industries for the Blind and Disabled in 1965.   

In 1968 the Institute set up another fund, this time to build and equip a residential home to provide accommodation for the local blind population as the nearest homes for the blind were in Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent. Beacon House was opened in March 1973. In the same year one of the workshop buildings was converted for use as a day centre. 
 
As amenities at the centre developed and became the focus of activities for the local visually impaired population, the need for accommodation on site for people who were able to live independently was acknowledged. The project was funded by Wolverhampton-born industrialist Sir Charles Hayward through the Hayward Trust, and a complex of 27 purpose-built bungalows was opened in 1976.  

In April 1991 the name of the Institute was changed to Beacon Centre for the Blind to reflect our changing circumstances. The rapid increase in the Centre’s range of services meant that the workshops ceased to be the main focus of our work and they eventually closed in 2003. As a result the Beacon Centre was forced to operate services in buildings unfit for purpose. In addition the other buildings on site were old and dilapidated, expensive to maintain and no longer fit to deliver modern and sustainable services. 

We were also operating against a background of anticipated increased need for our services. Government forecasts predict a rise of 35% on current figures for visual impairment by the year 2020 due to an ageing population and the prevalence of diabetes.

That’s why our Council of Management recognised that the Beacon Centre would have no future unless it acted. It therefore embarked on a challenging project to completely redevelop all the facilities. In other words the Centre would be demolished and completely re-built. The new Beacon Centre opened at the end of 2009.