Guernsey 'gives the gift of sight' to more than ten thousand worldwide

Lions Club members and volunteers sorting donated spectacles

The Guernsey Lions Club says islanders have been incredibly generous, as it collected more than 10,500 glasses for its annual Spektrek initiative.

The unused spectacles were collected by local opticians over the summer, and counted by volunteers this weekend.

The collection of 10,500 plus eyewear for all ages and levels of blindness have been shipped to the UK to be clean and sorted.

They will then be forwarded to to Médico LCF in Le Harve for final processing and then distributed to underserved communities.

The club's Paul Allaway says Guernsey has done its part to support global vision health.

"We are trying to save sight or unnecessary blindness.

Many of these spectacles will be given to patients being treated in eye camps in Africa, India and Eastern Europe.

Guernsey Lions have been taking part in this initiative for over 25 years.

We average around six thousand a year, so ten and a half thousand is absolutely fantastic.

Especially when you think of the population of the island, it's around one in every six.

So it is a very big thank you, not only from the Lions but from the recipients who will ultimately get an improvement of their sight."

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