Sight campaign has specs appeal

Specsavers employees Trish Hanson (left) and Pam Pickering, sort through donated glasses

THOUGHTFUL Royton residents have chipped in to collect thousands of unwanted specs to improve lives and help save the sight of people in the developing world.

Specsavers Royton has donated its 2,200th pair of spectacles to Vision Aid Overseas, the UK-based charity which aims to transform the lives of 670 million people whose lives are blighted by poor eyesight and ill health.

The glasses are tailored and re-used by the charity to improve the quality of life of people in the Third World, bringing education and employment to many who otherwise would simply not have access to it.

The team at Specsavers in Market Square has collected up to 100 pairs of specs a month since the shop opened almost two years ago.

Store manager Sarah Nuttall said: “We would like to continue collecting unwanted glasses as the need for them is still there.

“It is an astonishing fact that there are some 200 million people who need glasses but are still unable to get them due to a combination of poverty and living in remote locations, as well as a severe lack of optical facilities.”

She added: “We are delighted to have collected 2,200 pairs of glasses.

“It is thanks to local residents supporting Specsavers that we can continue to help optical experts to examine the eyes of people in the developing world and to train people in those countries in eyecare skills.”

Vision Aid Overseas director Natalie Briggs said she was thrilled with the response from Royton residents.

And she urged them to keep on donating to boost the appeal during 2011.

Since 2003, more than a quarter of a million glasses have been collected by Specsavers stores nationwide and recycled by Vision Aid Overseas.

The stores also raised more than £300,000 in 2009 to fund a dedicated eyecare clinic and teaching facility in Zambia, supported by Vision Aid Overseas, and have pledged to raise a further £300,000 to continue the project.

Anyone who can help can drop glasses off at Specsavers at 10 Market Square, Royton, or telephone 0161 484 3180.