OUR OBJECTIVES:
To preserve, protect and promote the ocular health of homeless and vulnerable people in the UK who are unwilling or unable to access mainstream services available through the NHS by providing and assisting in the provision of a comprehensive high quality and free at the point of use ocular health service, including screening and the provision of spectacles, that meets the immediate visual needs of our beneficiaries in a safe, accessible, friendly and comfortable environment.
WHAT WE DO:
“Vision Care for Homeless People” is a charity set-up to provide eyecare services to homeless and other vulnerable people in an accessible and friendly environment in which they feel safe, welcome and comfortable.
Homeless people may not know that when receiving financial benefits that they are eligible for an NHS eye examination and voucher towards spectacles. Even if they do know this very few practices will make spectacles totally free of charge and even a small charge may be unmanageable. We provide a fully comprehensive, high quality service totally free of charge.
We aim to preserve, protect and promote the ocular health of homeless and vulnerable people in the UK who are unwilling or unable to access mainstream services available through the NHS. We include screening of ocular health and the provision of spectacles, that meets the immediate visual needs of our beneficiaries.
MISSION STATEMENT:
“Vision Care for Homeless People” is a charity set-up to provide eyecare services to homeless people in an environment in which they feel welcome and comfortable.
HOW IT ALL STARTED:
Discussions to form a charity to provide eyecare to homeless and other vulnerable people started back in April 2003 between four optometrists – Harinder Paul, Elaine Styles, Mohan Vaithianathar and Edwin Achu.
The initial idea came from Harinder. He noticed the lack of eyewear and facilities to provide eyecare to locals during his travels especially in the townships in South Africa. He was inspired to help somehow, and on his return to England, he discussed his observations and ideas with a few people. Elaine had previously (and still does) successfully run an opticians service at the Crisis Open Christmas. Mohan had also worked for various vision aid organisations providing eyecare to the less fortunate overseas. Edwin had always been keen to do some work with vision aid but the opportunity never presented itself!
They wanted to provide optical services to homeless and other vulnerable people in an environment in which they feel comfortable. It took five months of organization to find the equipment we needed, the right location and the volunteers to run the clinic and in September 2003 the charity was born.
We ran a very successful pilot project for a week in September 2003 during which time we saw 62 people and dispensed 58 spectacles. It was extremely rewarding to see how grateful these people were to have their eyes examined by friendly professionals and supplied with spectacles if needed. Our expectations were definitely exceeded. We knew for sure that there was a great demand for the service and thus decided to provide it on a permanent weekly basis.
HOW WE ARE FUNDED:
Vision Care for Homeless People is registered as an opticians practice with the local health authority. This enables us to claim funding from the NHS for the people we see who are eligible for an NHS eye examination. This funding plus some private donations has enabled us to run the service free for everybody who requires it, not just those receiving benefits. All our professional staff are volunteers and all the equipment is donated so there are no over heads from that.
OUR PRIORITIES OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:
We now have two centres in London and one in Birmingham. We have three others under discussion, in London, Newcastle and Oxford. Our first immediate aim is to get more volunteers to keep the current clinics fully staffed.
OUR ASPIRATIONS:
Our ultimate aim is to expand this service nationwide in all the major cities, so as to make a difference to as many homeless and vulnerable people as we can. We are actively working towards that.
