South Shields store donates more than 1,000 pairs of glasses to charity

An opticians on South Tyneside has gifted more than 1,000 pairs of glasses to be recycled in support of the Vision Aid Overseas (VAO) charity.
The Specsavers store in South Shields has gifted more than 1,000 pairs of glasses to be recycled for the  Vision Aid Overseas charity.The Specsavers store in South Shields has gifted more than 1,000 pairs of glasses to be recycled for the  Vision Aid Overseas charity.
The Specsavers store in South Shields has gifted more than 1,000 pairs of glasses to be recycled for the Vision Aid Overseas charity.

The Specsavers store in South Shields collected the four-figure sum of used and unwanted specs from customers over the last nine months.

The frames will be sent to the VAO, which recovers the precious metals within the frames and uses the income to help deliver vital eyecare services to isolated communities in five African nations, as well as train local eyecare workers.

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Bryan Clark, director of the South Shields store, said: “Our customers have really done us proud and helped us collect a huge number of specs for the charity.

“We plan to keep collecting so if you’ve got old specs gathering dust at home, come by and see us and drop them into the collection box in the store.

“Through VAO they can make a real difference in people’s lives.”

More than 47,915 eye tests have been carried our through Vision Aid Overseas activities in the last year.

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Anyone who would like to contribute to the appeal can do so by calling at the store in King Street.

Since the foundation of the VAO, community outreach services run by professionally trained optical volunteers have been essential in making eye care accessible for people in remote areas.

It also supports the development of Vision Centres where patients can receive a walk-in eye examination, purchase of glasses and be referred for further specialist care if necessary.

Find out more about the charity at www.visionaidoverseas.org