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Shoppers in Southport and Formby help
provide sight for Africa
SPECSAVERS in Southport and Formby have
thanked customers for donating more than 18,000 of their old, unused glasses
this year, as part of a charity campaign to help people in Africa to see more
clearly. The Southport store had 14,000 donations during 2017, while Formby were
able to donate over 4,000 pairs to the charity.
Founded in 1985, Vision Aid Overseas has been helping some of the poorest people
in the world to see properly for more than 30 years. The charity's mission is to
enable people living in poverty to access affordable glasses and eyecare.
All the collected glasses are recycled and the money made is used to help
provide optical services in developing countries.
Working with Vision Aid Overseas, staff and customers at;- Specsavers Formby and
Specsavers Southport have shown their generosity by bringing a record-number of
old glasses to the store for donation over the past year.
VAO has been Specsavers international eyecare charity since 2008. The group has
raised over ₤600,000 for Zambian eye care including an optometry technologists
training course at the Chainama College of Health Sciences in Lusaka, 10 staffed
vision centres across Zambia and a national eyecare outreach programme.
Southport store director, Victoria Dunn, says:- "The campaign this year
has been a massive success thanks to our very kind and generous customers
bringing in their old glasses. Every single one will make a difference.
In a country where opticians' services are readily available, such as the UK, it
is easy to take our vision for granted. In poorer parts of the world where
people don't have access to eyecare services, these donations and Vision Aid
Overseas can make a significant impact on people's lives."
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