Chichester Lions Club have been collecting and sorting used spectacles since 1980. Over the next four years some 50,000 spectacles were sent to Missionary Optical Society for use in their clinics in Kenya and India.
In 1985 they linked up with the Le Havre Lions and Medico France, and over the following five years some 100,000 spectacles, 43,000 lenses, and 10,000 frames were sent to Medico France while still delivering to Missionary Optical Society as many pairs of sorted spectacles as they needed.
In 1988, another outlet was established through Vision Aid Overseas, and in 1990 Boots the Chemist and Help The Aged joined them in a national campaign which produced 460,000 pairs of spectacles in 6 months. Once sorted they went to places such as Cameroon, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka, India, Zanzibar, Jamaica, Bolivia and Brazil.
Today Chichester Lions are receiving used spectacles from Lions Clubs throughout the British Isles, as well as from opticians and supermarket sources. Spectacles are sorted and graded in preparation for onward transmission to Medico France in Le Havre, who clean and grade the spectacles, ready for use in eye camps in Africa, India and Eastern Europe.
Chichester Lions Club have recently developed, with the help of the Inside Out Trust, facilities for grading spectacles in the United Kingdom and have shipped directly to Ghana, Papua New Guinea, Nepal and recently to Nigeria. In each case, the glasses are sent directly to known or Lions Club contacts. They have also developed contacts with individuals and charities based in the British Isles who are carrying out eye-camp projects overseas, who are able to use spectacles that Chichester Lions Club are recycling and supplying to them.
Last year they sent over 300,000 pairs of spectacles to Medico France. Through Chichester Lions Club the British Isles & Irish Lions Clubs provide more than 50% of the spectacles processed by Medico France - more than any other national group including France itself.
Lions Clubs or other organisations in the UK who wish to send spectacles to Chichester can do so free of charge using the facility provided by Parcelforce, details of which can be found on the Chichester Lions Club web site. Chichester Lions Club is also able to provide clubs with signage for collecting bins.
This project is financed by funds generated from waste materials contained in the frames of spectacles unsuitable for recycling, and all surplus funds are designated for the support of sight related charitable projects. Clubs in the Multiple District, who are supporting this project, and are raising money for a sight related project are invited to apply to Chichester Lions club who are willing to support suitable projects.
