Home Third Sector, Health & Education Wetherby shoppers donate thousands of specs to Africa

Wetherby shoppers donate thousands of specs to Africa

Vision Aid Overseas assessment

A local opticians is celebrating a major boost for its charity campaign to help the people of Zambia to see clearly after collecting more than 6,500 donations of unwanted glasses from its customers in 2019.

Working with Vision Aid Overseas, staff and customers at the Specsavers store in Wetherby have shown their generosity by bringing a fantastic number of old glasses to the store for donation over the last year.

The project was hugely successful in 2019, and the team is hopeful that donations will continue to be received throughout this year.

Geoff Harper, Store Director at Specsavers Wetherby said: ‘We would like to thank all of our customers who helped us on this project recently and please do keep bringing in your 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 the developing world, the provision of optical services has a real impact on peoples’ lives.

‘So check your drawers and dig down the back of the sofa – your unwanted specs can go to good use.’

All the collected glasses are recycled and the money made is used to help provide eyecare in developing countries.