Shop customers give gift of sight to 5,000 Africans
Around 5,000 pairs of glasses have been donated - to help people abroad see.
Specsavers in Rochdale is thanking customers for a fantastic 5,000 pairs of glasses being donated throughout 2019.
Shoppers have donated thousands of glasses since January 2019 as part of Specsavers’ charity campaign to help people in Africa who need glasses.
Sarah Culshaw, retail director at Specsavers in Rochdale, said: “The campaign has been a massive success so far this year, 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 eye care services, these donations and Vision Aid Overseas can make a significant impact on people’s lives.’
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 eye care.
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 (VAO), staff and customers at Specsavers in Rochdale have shown their generosity by bringing a record-number of old glasses to the store for donation since the start of the year. VAO has been Specsavers international eye care 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 eye care outreach programme.