253 million people around the world are visually impaired. Most frustratingly, 75% of visual impairment is avoidable through early treatment and diagnosis. Thursday 10th October is World Sight Day, an annual day of awareness that brings global attention to blindness and vision impairment. It also brings attention to the life-changing work that the charity Orbis UK does to remove the barriers people face when trying to access quality eye care.
Oliver Goldsmith have been working closely with Orbis UK and have donated over 700 frames to date (a gift total of over £11,000). The donations were split between vital projects in Cameroon and Zambia. These programmes have both received long term support from Orbis UK and our donated frames were sold within the region to increase revenue for the centres, the hospital 's eye units and to help ensure sustainability of the programme.
The work Orbis UK do to strengthen both adult and child eye health services to building hospitals is simply invaluable and as an eyewear brand we want to support them in any way we can.
So, to celebrate #worldsightday, 50% of all online purchases made on Thursday 10th October (2019) will go directly to Orbis UK. We will also be hosting a competition to win a pair of Limited-Edition Oliver Goldsmith Goldsides; either a Manhattan Warship or Lord Dark Tortoiseshell, each worth £330.00 each.
Many of us take for granted the access we have to opticians, doctors and the NHS. People around the world face huge barriers when accessing help; whether financially, physically, geographically or simply through a lack of awareness about eye disease. With 89% of blind and visually impaired people living in low- or middle-income countries, it can be a stark choice between the cost of medical aid or everyday essentials such as food.
We want to help change this and with your support we hope to make a significant donation to Orbis UK this World Sight Day.
To be in for a chance of winning a pair of Goldsides, all you have to do is donate £5.00 (or more if you would like!) to the Orbis UK Charity through our JUST GIVING PAGE and comment on our Instagram post with either MANHATTAN #worldsightday or LORD #worldsightday.
If you don 't have Instagram, please just email us to say you have donated.
We will then pick two winners at random and ship your chosen pair to you!
All donations will be sent to Orbis UK to support their invaluable work such as:
- Community outreach work, including their Vision Van which brings optometrists and glasses to schools in Northern India.
- Training teachers to spot eye conditions in their pupils
- Upskilling eye care teams across Africa, Asia and Latin America on board the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital and in local hospitals.
Please do share and forward to friends and family and help support this extraordinary charity. Just imagine your life without vision or access to help…..
To find out more about where your donations will go, please visit the Orbis UK website.
We will run the competition for 1 week, announcing the winner by Friday 18th Oct 2019.
In 2018, Orbis UK supporters enabled them to work with local partners to conduct over three million screenings, deliver almost 332,500 surgeries and medical treatments and supply just under 8.4 million doses of Zithromax to prevent and treat blinding trachoma. In addition to this, they were able to train almost 59.5k doctors, nurses and community health workers.
With 253 million blind or visually impaired people in the world and blindness set to triple by 2050, your support is more vital than ever in helping Orbis to provide people with access to eye care, no matter where they live.
