Norville Opticians recognises World Sight Day and takes the challenge

A leading chain of local opticians is joining the World Sight Day challenge to help give sight to people in developing countries and underserved communities.

For the month of October Norville Opticians which has practices across South Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire are asking for a donation whenever they carry out an adjustment or a minor repair to someone's spectacles. The money will help provide eye exams and glasses to children who can't see to learn at school and adults who can't see to provide for their families.

Optometry Giving Sight is a joint initiative of the World Optometry Foundation, the International Centre for Eyecare Education and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. The funds raised go towards sustainable programs that train local eye care professionals and develop vision centres which provide permanent vision care to people in desperate need.

There are 600 million people around the world who are blind or vision impaired simply due to uncorrected refractive error – that's around ten times the population of the UK.

"World Sight Day is actually on October 11 but we are observing it for the whole of the month," said Norville Opticians Director Adrian Street. "We have supported Optometry Giving Sight for many years and we are proud to support such a worthwhile cause. It's easy to take our eyesight for granted here in the UK, so taking the World Sight Day Challenge is a great way to raise funds to give sight to people who don't have access to the excellent vision care our patients do".

The company has been inspired by stories like that of Loid Sement, who is one of the students training to become an optometrist with the Mozambique Eyecare Project, supported by Optometry Giving Sight. Loid will be one of the first optometrists in her country and she is passionate about optometry because of the significant impact it can have for the people of Mozambique. "Sight is empowering. For some, access to eye care is the first step towards getting an education, or providing for your family," she said.

Children are especially vulnerable. Providing vision correction to a school-aged child can literally transform his or her entire life. Just £3.00 can provide an eye examination and a pair of glasses in some developing countries. This alone could be enough to save someone from the injustices of poverty. Norville Opticians invite their patients to make a donation at any of their practices during the month of October.

Optometry Giving Sight guarantees that 85% of all funds raised by optometrists and their patients go directly to programmes that give sight to those most in need. Funds raised from World Sight Day Challenge will be directed to projects in 23 countries around the world.

For more information about Optometry Giving Sight and the World Sight Day Challenge, visit

www.givingsight.org.