An introduction to Fred

Fred went blind as a teenager, following a double retinal detachment - he continued his education at the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh, which he later described as a "rather mixed experience." He met his future wife, Etta, at this school, which inspired him to go on to write a novel, The Panopticon, about two blind teenagers who meet and fall in love at the fictional Craigton Hall.

Through his writing in The Panopticon, Fred argued that residential institutions for disabled people in the 1950s still clung onto Victorian values and practices - often operating a prison-like approach with strict regulations, particularly for any personal relationships between students.

Fred had been introduced to the ideas of equality for all by his parents ("I learned from them to speak up fearlessly for what is right," he recalled), and it was this time at the Royal Blind School that gave him his own specific focus.

The impact of Fred's work

"At a very early stage, I resolved to speak up for the rights of blind people," said Fred. He served in several different roles over the years - from president of the National Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted, to a trustee of the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB). In 1970, he also helped to form the Association of Blind and Partially Sighted Teachers and Students.

Through Fred's work, he found that "the rights of blind people could not be divorced from those of disabled people generally." And so, he stepped into a role as executive for the Disablement Income Group and the Disability Alliance. Fred helped to launch several ground-breaking government programmes, including:

• the Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• the Access to Work scheme
• the offer of mainstream education for visually impaired children
• the first-ever inclusive college for visually impaired students, opened by the RNIB in Loughborough in 1989.

Recognising Fred's achievements

Fred's life has been, and continues to be, a remarkable one - from achieving the highest First Class degree in his year at Edinburgh University, to leading the department of History at Warwick, to publishing multiple books. Still, he recognises the grit and determination it has taken for him to hit these goals in a world that was not set up to help him. "Every blind person in any walk of life, if they've got any kind of desire to succeed, has to work 50 per cent harder," he shared.

That's why one of Fred's long-term ambitions is to see the rate of unemployment among blind and partially sighted people drop well below the current level of seventy five per cent. Both he and his wife, Etta, have worked extensively to offer support themselves - particularly across the Midlands, such as their Kenilworth Readers for the Blind group.

In summer 2017, Fred and Etta were both presented with honorary Warwick degrees for their decades of voluntary charity work. "Everyone here today can take inspiration from their impressive work ethic, their tremendous courage and their unwavering determination," said Professor Laura Green (School of Life Sciences), as she read out their orationLink opens in a new window.