Long serving Vision Support Harrogate trustee ends century-long family connection with resignation

Vision Support Harrogate District took the opportunity at its recent AGM to say a special thank you to Bob Sergeant for his long service.

Bob joined in 1979, following in the footsteps of various family members including his father, Russell Sergeant, after whom the charity’s drop-in centre in East Parade is named.

The Sergeants first became involved with the Harrogate Society for the Blind, as it was then known, in 1923. The organisation had been founded two years earlier to support soldiers returning from the First World War with visual impairments caused by mustard gas.

Bob’s grandparents, Henry and Marion Sergeant, were near neighbours of the charity’s founder Miss Fripp. Henry had a shop in James Street and offered to display and sell basketry work made by visually impaired people. He went on to become vice chairman, while Marion was a committee member. Later, their son - and Bob’s father - Russell, became a trustee, serving as secretary, chairman and president before being made honorary president in 1993. Russell’s sisters, Jean, Alison and Joyce, were volunteers, while Jean’s husband Les Topham was on the committee.

Bob said he was proud of his family’s connection and honoured to have been personally involved for so long. He added: “There is no way that it could survive without the help of its loyal volunteers. I also think the centre would not be here today without the very valuable help from the Rotary Club of Harrogate.”

Bob and his wife, Mary, who live in Boston Spa, still intend to be involved with the society, but his resignation from the committee marks the end of an era as their two sons live too far away to actively contribute.