Sight and Spectacle Recycling
SIGHT
Lions Clubs are recognised worldwide for its services to the blind and visually impaired.
Lions involvement began through a challenge issued in 1925 by Helen Keller, advocate for the blind, for Lions to become "The knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness", In 1930 Lions introduced the white cane, which is still in use today.
Working in partnership with other organisations in Countries of the developing world, Lions work to provide professional Glaucoma screening and to provide corneal transplants.
LIONS SIGHTFIRST PROGRAMME
Sightfirst is Lions most ambitious and most successful initiative ever, it is also the worlds largest blindness prevention programme with the aim of establishing long term solutions for eliminating preventable and reversible blindness.
The major causes of blindness are cataract, river blindness, trachoma and especially in developed nations like here in the UK, Diabetic Retinopathy, AMD and Glaucoma
LIONS WORLD SIGHT DAY
Lions World Sight Day was launched in 1998, it is now a global event that focuses attention on the problem of preventable blindness.
The shocking fact is that every six minutes one person in the UK goes blind.
Together Glaucoma, AMD and Diabetic Retinopathy account for approximately 25% of people on the blind register
FACTS ON BLINDNESS
- There are about 50 million people world wide with sight loss, this includes almost 2 million people in the UK
- 80% of blindness is preventable or reversible
- Glaucoma is the worlds leading preventable cause of blindness, approximately 67 million people have Glaucoma world wide
- Glaucoma affects about 2% of the population in the UK over the age of 40 and half of these people are unaware of the threat to their sight
- Approximately 1.4 million people in the UK have some form of Diabetes, all of who are at risk of developing one of several Diabetic eye conditions such as Diabetic Retinopathy which can cause loss of sight
- In the UK there are approximately 1.5 Million people affected by AMD, 250,000 people with Glaucoma and 20,000 people with Diabetic Retinopathy, the prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy was 54.6% in people with Type 1 Diabets and 30.0% in people with Type 2 Diabetes in the UK
- It is estimated that worldwide there are more than 14,000 new cases of cataract blindness per day
- At least 50% of all blindness is caused by cataract, which accounts for 13 - 17 million people
- Trachoma disorders account for 7 - 9 million people or 25% of the total blind worldwide
- Glaucoma, River Blindness, Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and other various diseases account for the final 25% of the total blind worldwide
- 85% of all blindness worldwide is found in Africa and Asia
DON'T TAKE YOUR SIGHT FOR GRANTED
SPECTACLE RECYCLING
There is a great need for recycled glasses throughout the world, especially in the developing world.
Lions Clubs work in partnership with other organisations such as The World Health Organisation (WHO), they estimate that the eyesight of 25% of the worlds population could be improved with corrective lenses, unfortunately for many people in some of the poorest countries a pair of glasses is either too expensive or inaccessible.
1 child in 4 can not see well enough to read without a pair of glasses
By the age of 40 90% of the worlds population needs a pair of glasses to read
Unfortunately in many areas of the world where poor eyesight is left uncorrected results in children being unable to learn at school and being forced out of the classrooms and adults unable to do their job being forced into unemployment
With your help the lives of 500 million people could be improved with a simple pair of your unwanted glasses.
By donating your unwanted glasses you will help to make eye care possible for those who might otherwise not receive the help they need to make a better life for themselves
Wolverhampton Lions regularly collect unwanted glasses and send them to our recycling centre, each year Lions collect more than 5,000,000 pairs of unwanted glasses for distribution in developing Countries, so next time when you are collecting your new pair of glasses please donate your old ones so someone in the world can have a clear vision
Wolverhampton Lions have Recycle for Sight glasses collection bins at the following opticians -
Flints in Compton, Codsall and Wednesfield, Taylor Biddle Bridgnorth Road Compton and at Windmill Bank Wombourne, Powells at Coalway Road Merry Hill
If you have any unwanted glasses please contact Wolverhampton Lions Club using the contact us form at the top of the page, we will then liaise with you how the glasses can be collected or dropped off
