Back in 2005, when we first made plans to support the development of eye-care in northern Malawi, we started with sending second-hand measured glasses from the UK.
Since then, friends and supporters have donated, sorted, cleaned, measured, labelled and packed thousands of specs for onward transmission to the mission hospitals.
These have been invaluable to individuals coming to the clinics who otherwise would have no opportunity for better sight, even if the glasses didn’t exactly match their prescription.
More recently however, with trained clinicians in place, we have supplied the equipment for producing glasses locally to match properly the patient’s prescription – just as we would expect at our local optometrists.
So now we are putting a pause on receiving secondhand glasses until further notice. (Also, at present, we have no space to store donations).
However, there are some exceptions:
- ready-readers (as available in shops and supermarkets)
- sunglasses
- vintage or ‘designer’ glasses (and their cases, if available). While not required in the clinics, these do have some value in the UK, and proceeds from selling them are a welcome addition to the Trust’s funds.
If you have any of the above available to donate, do let us know via our contact page. Thank you!