Morningside opticians gather unwanted specs for charity

Morningside reaches record numbers for Specsavers charity campaign

Big-hearted Morningside residents have helped a local optician to stockpile its largest ever collection of old and unwanted glasses to help people in developing countries. Specsavers Morningside has amassed more than 3,500 pairs of specs, thanks to kind donations from the public.

The huge haul will be handed over to eyecare charity Vision Aid Overseas (VAO) which recycles the specs and uses the funds generated to provide eyecare to those who need it in the developing world.

Among those involved in creating a mountain of unwanted specs were pupils from nearby Firrhill High School, Colinton Parish Church, Oxgangs Primary School, Braidburn School, and First Ranger Guides.

Also helping out with the community charity effort were the Craiglockhart Brownies, 134 Craiglockhart Guides, Fairmilehead Beavers and the South Morningside Explorer Scout Unit.

Michael O’Kane, store director of Specsavers Morningside, says: ‘I am overwhelmed by the huge support from the local community who have contributed to our VAO appeal to help those in need.

‘In particular I’d like to thank the children and young adults from all of our generous local schools and groups for going out of their way to organise collections and donations, helping us to collect our largest pile of VAO specs to-date.

‘Specsavers has been a supporter of VAO for nearly a decade. It’s a fantastic charity giving the gift of sight to people with vision problems across the developing world.  Many people overseas do not have access to the most basic of eyecare so receiving a pair of prescription glasses can mark a massive change in their lives.

‘I would encourage everyone in Morningside to bring in their old specs to see if we can make our next pile even bigger.’

The VAO donation is just one of many sight-improvement initiatives supported by the store. Specsavers Morningside recently funded flight costs for an optometrist to take a trip to India, providing vital eyecare services for those suffering from sight problems and blindness.

Specsavers is a long-standing supporter of Vision Aid Overseas, donating more than 250,000 pairs of glasses and raising enough funds to build a school of optometry in Zambia, with eyecare outreach clinics in much of the country.

Set up in 1985, VAO is dedicated to helping 300 million people in the developing world who suffer from poor eyesight because they need glasses.