AN OPTICIANS in Barry has collected more than 1,000 used frames to fund eyecare for children and adults in some of Africa’s poorest nations.

Residents have helped Specsavers in Barry to donate the frames to Vision Aid Overseas (VAO), a charity that has been making eyecare accessible to vulnerable children and adults in Africa for more than 30 years, including in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Zambia.

The glasses will be recycled, and the income generated will support Vision Aid Overseas’ work, including building vision centres, training local eyecare workers, and delivering eyecare services to remote and isolated communities.

Store director Jamie Pullen said: “By donating used spectacles that otherwise would have gone to waste, customers in Barry have provided a helping hand to children and adults in some of Africa’s more rural and marginalised communities.

“Improving a child’s eyesight boosts their educational opportunities and, for adults, can sometimes make the difference between being able to work and earn a living, or not.

“That simple donation from someone in Barry could help transform the living standards of a family elsewhere.”

Many of the frames were donated by customers who use Healthcall, a service provided by Specsavers that involves ‘mobile opticians’ visiting the homes, and care homes, of customers who cannot make it to their local store unaccompanied.

These mobile opticians offer customers eye tests, as well as other optical care services.

Customers wishing to donate unwanted glasses can do so at Specsavers on Holton Road, Barry.