The coronation of King Charles III promises to be a visual spectacle that will bring the country together in celebration. But with rich imagery so ingrained in the event, over 26,000 blind and visually impaired children and young people living in the UK risk feeling excluded. But one charity is working to tackle this.

Living Paintings are giving away thousands of free, sensory coronation gifts that will bring the coronation to life for blind and visually impaired children; helping them experience the pageantry and history of the event through touch and sound. 

These fabulous free resources can be enjoyed at home or at school and will arrive with blind and visually impaired children and young people in the weeks leading up to the big day on 6^th May. 

Each beautifully packaged free gift will include raised, tactile images and are accompanied by audio descriptions that can guide little fingers over the images to help them see through touch – as well as providing entertaining and engaging commentary on the day. Audio guides are provided by big names such as Dame Joanna Lumley, Roman Kemp, Mel Giedroyc, Omid Djalili and Sir Derek Jacobi. To make sure all children and young people can enjoy the experience, three separate recordings are being made to engage children aged 0-3, primary age and secondary age. 

What’s inside? 

The St Edward’s Crown

A feely picture of the St Edward’s Crown that will be a focus of the coronation, placed on the head of the new King by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Steeped in history, the crown was last used by our late Queen during her iscoronation in 1952. It was created for King Charles II in 1661 and on May 6th will be the focus of the ceremony that will see King Charles III officially ascend the throne.

The profile portrait of King Charles III

A tactile version of the portrait of King Charles that will become the iconic image of his reign. For centuries the images of monarchs have been stamped onto coins, and in 1840 Queen Victoria’s profile was first printed on the first adhesive stamp. By British artist, Martin Jennings, the new portrait of King Charles III is the first where the monarch is not wearing a crown.

The flower emblems of the United Kingdom

When King Charles is crowned, he will officially begin his reign over the four nations of the United Kingdom. In celebration of this, we have included raised, feely pictures of the floral emblems of these nations; England’s rose, Wales’ daffodil, Scotland’s thistle, and Northern Ireland’s shamrock.

A gift for all blind and visually impaired children

Applications to receive Living Paintings’ free coronation gift is open to all families, schools or people supporting blind or visually impaired children. Registration is open now and takes just a couple of minutes to complete. But hurry, you only have until April 14th to sign up!You can help a blind or visually impaired child in your life feel included in the celebrations by visiting our coronation hub at livingpaintings.org/coronation