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Thank you for helping us raise a massive £441

Patricia Hayselden & Partners have once again taken part in the World Sight Day Challenge, the largest annual global fundraising campaign to address avoidable blindness caused by uncorrected refractive error – simply because of the need for an eye exam and glasses.

Throughout October, Patricia and her colleagues have donated a proportion of the eye examination fees to help more than 600 million people in the world who are blind or vision impaired simply because they do not have access to an eye exam or glasses. The campaign is run by global charity, Optometry Giving Sight.

I have proudly supported Optometry Giving Sight for 7 years. The World Sight Day Challenge is a very positive campaign because preventable blindness is a solvable problem. Everyone can make a difference.”
– Patricia Hayselden

The World Sight Day Challenge also featured new ‘people power’ wristbands to encourage everyone who visited Patricia Hayselden & Partners to make a donation and publicly show their support for Optometry Giving Sight. Thank you for your support.

It can cost just £3.00 to provide an eye examination and a pair of glasses in some developing countries. This alone could be enough to save someone from the injustices of poverty.

Participating is easy – simply arrange a regular donation at www.givingsight.org or make a one-off donation at the practice, which we will forward on to Optomertary Giving Sight.

Thanks to past donations, Optometry Giving Sight has been able to fund 67 projects in 38 countries. These include El Salvador, where last year our local partner Fudem screened 64,000 school children in extremely poor communities.

Primary schoolgirl Carla (pictured) was screened at the Centro Escolar Las Brisas school, in a very poor community in the Soyapango region. With an eye examination and a pair of glasses, Carla’s vision was restored, renewing her potential for a quality education and a life full of opportunity.

World Sight Day was on 12th October 2012. The practice participated in fundraising for the charity Optometry Giving Sight, by donating money from each eye examination throughout October. Many of our patients also donated – thank you. 6oo million people in the world are blind or have impaired vision, simply because they do not have access to the basic eye care and spectacles, that we take for granted. Providing vision correction to a school-age child can literally transform their entire life. The money raised will go directly to supporting programmes that will give sight to those most in need.

Patricia Hayselden and Partners has won a Gold fundraising award from Optometry Giving Sight, through a fixed donation per eye examination and our patients’ voluntary donations.

Our practice was inspired by stories like that of Loid Semente, who is one of the students training to become an optometrist with the Mozambique Eyecare Project, supported by Optometry Giving Sight. Loid will be one of the first optometrists in her country. She is passionate about optometry because of the significant impact it can have for the people of Mozambique. “Sight is empowering. For some, access to eye care is the first step towards getting an education, or providing for your family,” she said.

Optometry Giving Sight guarantees that 85% of all funds raised by optometrists and their patients go directly to supporting programmes that give sight to those most in need. Funds raised from World Sight Day Challenge will be directed to projects in 23 countries around the world. For more information about Optometry Giving Sight and the World Sight Day Challenge, visit www.givingsight.org.