I’m very fond of traditional soaps, so was really happy to receive some Vintage Rose fragranced soaps from Clarity – I love a rose scent. But there is something a bit different about these soaps; they’re made by blind and disabled people. Clarity (formerly The General Welfare of the Blind), the charity, was established in 1854 with the objective of providing employment for the blind and they started making soaps in 1936 thanks to a famous blinded soldier, Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse, who donated £500, a tidy sum back in the day.
The soaps are only part of a range of toiletries and cleaning products: everyday things that we all need, only these smell much nicer! It isn’t really only the fund-raising benefits that these products provide (to fund specialist Skills For Life training programmes), there is a wider social context to having a job with what is an otherwise rather isolating disability. For a start, there is the sociability; simply chatting with other workers, then skills management, such as learning to manage workload and staff, plus of course, the independence of earning a living. Nothing at Clarity is tested on animals.
When it comes right down to it, the sensory nature of fragranced soaps seems so appropriate because it isn’t dependent on sight to enjoy it. I love these for all the reasons listed and also because they’re really rather lovely soaps. They’re £4.25 and available here: http://www.clarityefbp.org/index.php
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