The History of Compass Braille
Between 1978-1985, 2 of the founders, Tony & Rona Gibb worked in India among people with visually impaired people. Hindi and Tamil Braille New Testaments had been produced but in other Indian languages there were, at the most, only 1 or 2 Gospels and English Braille was not widely known. So in 1990 to address the need for Braille Bibles in Indian languages, Compass Braille was established.
A retired professor, Don Rogers, came on board and wrote a computer program to convert Hindi script into Braille code. This enabled the work to begin but because Bible texts were rarely computerised volunteers were found to type various languages onto computer and others simultaneously proof-read the work.
Premises were found for a braille press in a disused Methodist Chapel in Moretonhampstead, Devon. Soon after, Steve Brown joined Compass Braille and he became the first Production Manager. He oversaw the installation of two Braillo embossers imported from Norway and produced the first ever computerised braille Bible volumes in Hindi for India. David Barnard was recruited as computer programmer and the transcription and production of braille Bibles in other Indian languages quickly followed.
In 2002, Colin Dowling took over the reins as “CEO”, assisted by trustees including his wife Glennis. Under their leadership, work continued to expand to include the production of braille Bibles in several African languages. In 2008 Compass Braille relocated to Ware, Hertfordshire. A dedicated and faithful team of volunteers was established and daughter-in-law Nicola and grandson Ross worked in bookkeeping and production, respectively. Jake Kyle joined the staff around the same time as Colin, initially as a production assistant but later moving into transcription and programming.
After celebrating Compass Braille’s 33rd Anniversary in September 2023, Colin & Glennis retired and Compass Braille moved to Torch House in Market Harborough. While Torch staff and volunteers took over production and bookkeeping on a contract basis, Jake Kyle continued to work on transcription, remotely, as the sole employee of Compass Braille. At the same time the governance passed to the Board of Torch who, as a group, are the sole trustee of Compass Braille and oversee the work.
