Archive
Rodenstock Supports Optometry Giving Sight
Rodenstock is supporting the work of Optometry Giving Sight by making a generous donation for each Rodenstock Impression FreeSign® lens dispensed from now until the
end of March.
“We would like to thank the fantastic loyalty of our Rodenstock customers as their support enables us to help this most worthwhile optometric charity,” said Nick Loan, Managing Director of Rodenstock (left).
Bob Chappell, Chairman of Optometry Giving Sight’s National Committee, is delighted with Rodenstock’s lead: “This is the first lens company to get involved with Optometry Giving Sight in the UK. We hope that, together, significant funds can be raised to support our Priority Projects in Africa and Sri Lanka.”
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Save the date for World Sight Day Challenge October 2008! |
Specsavers Gala Dinner in Australia raises $74,000
The first Australian annual Specsavers Gala Dinner, held in December, saw a record sum raised for Optometry Giving Sight. Suppliers, optometrists and company founders Doug and Dame Mary Perkins all contributed to raise almost AU$74,000 (£33,000) for projects that will give sight to people with uncorrected refractive error.
Dame Mary Perkins was thrilled with the result. “It’s a fantastic feeling for us to be a part of raising such a large amount of money for Optometry Giving Sight,” she said. “Specsavers has been very committed to a range of charitable activities in the UK and Europe for many years now and we want to bring that same dedication to Australia too. This is a great start and we thank all our suppliers and our partners for such a strong show of mutual support to a very worthwhile cause.”
Professor Brien Holden CEO, Optometry Giving Sight, said that the dinner was the single largest fund-raising event in Optometry Giving Sight’s Australian history and he applauded the company for its well known support for social and community causes. “Tonight we saw that leadership in action,” he said.
Optimed Becomes Gold National Sponsor
Optimed Ltd, the leading ophthalmic digital signage company in the UK, has announced its commitment to Optometry Giving Sight by becoming a Gold National Sponsor.
Optimed will not only provide financial support, but will utilise the power of their unique digital signage technology, the expertise of their design team and the encouragement of their sales staff to raise awareness of Optometry Giving Sight and generate support amongst even more members of the optical community.
“I have always been a supporter of Optometry Giving Sight since it launched in the UK,” explains Dr Trusit Dave, optometrist and Director of Optimed Ltd. “I am delighted that we are now at a stage where Optimed can give its support too. We are looking forward to helping Optometry Giving Sight reach even more optometrists and to give them the opportunity to use our i-Vue digital signage systems to reach out to patients visiting practices as well.”
$5 million Allocated to Projects
Speaking at the American Academy of Optometry, the Executive Chairman and CEO of Optometry Giving Sight, Professor Brien Holden, announced that Optometry Giving Sight would disperse its first US$1,000,000 by the end of 2007. The funds will support projects that will give sight to people with refractive error blindness and impaired vision in Africa, Sri Lanka, East Timor and Indigenous Australia.
The funds have been raised by optometrists, their staff and patients in Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe.
“We are on track to raise the next US$4 million in 2008 and 2009, and the Board thought it wise for strategic planning and synergy purposes to allocate funds going forward to complete the current priority projects,” said Professor Holden. > more
Over £7,000 raised in World Sight Day Challenge
Thank you to all who participated in the World Sight Day Challenge!
So far over £7,000 has been raised thanks to practices, their staff and their patients across the UK – with money still coming in.
Here are some examples of optometrists who took part in the Challenge:
Joy Hynes, of Hynes Optometrists in Ealing, is a regular donor who frequently fundraises in practice as well: “The World Sight Day Challenge was another great opportunity to raise awareness about the need worldwide. We made a donation as a practice and asked our patients to contribute as well, raising over £200. The day was a great success and we will continue to raise money for Optometry Giving Sight all year round”.
Sonia Methven, optometrist at Specsavers in High Wycombe, set up "Sight Stations" so that her patients could get an idea of what it is like to live with uncorrected refractive error. Each station featured a pair of glasses fitted with lenses chosen to illustrate common sight problems.
"I have experienced first hand the scale of the sight care problems in developing countries and am delighted to support an organisation dedicated to providing funds for eye health for children in the developing world where such services do not exist." said Sonia. "I wanted our patients to realise how debilitating sight problems can be and how little it costs to give sight to an individual child."
Optometrists across the country signed up to take part in the World Sight Day Challenge.
Gosforth Eye Company in Newcastle pledged to donate eye exam fees on Thursday 11th October - and invited the Lord Mayor of Newcastle to attend an eye examination. Lord Mayor Peter Arnold was delighted to be involved in the event and urged others to support the campaign. "We wanted to let people in Newcastle know the scale of this problem and how little it costs to help an individual child", explained Katrina Venerus of Gosforth Eye Company. "Having the support of the Lord Mayor of the city is a fabulous boost to our efforts and we are grateful to him for giving up his time".
The Challenge also provided a great opportunity to invite patients to show their support by adding as little as £2.50 to their bill. Brian Tompkins, practice owner and optometrist from Northampton, had cakes and sweets on offer to anyone who made a donation - and a bottle of bubbly for the staff member who got the most donations! Brian said: "I strongly believe that people in the developing world should have the same access to eye care services that we take for granted here in the UK, which is why I am a regular donor myself. Patients were only too happy to donate, as they can understand the importance of an eye exam better than anyone. By lunchtime we had already raised £150 from patients alone”.
Michelle Beavers from Helensburgh Eyecare in Scotland decided to take a product-related angle to the World Sight Day Challenge by donating £10 from each pair of spectacles sold throughout the month of October: “Due to the new fees structure in Scotland people now receive their eye examination for “free” so it didn’t seem appropriate to donate our eye exam fees. Instead we decided to make a donation for each pair of spectacles sold and ask patients if they would like to donate too”.
Optometry Giving Sight would like to thank all optometrists, practices and patients for getting involved in the Challenge!
Optometrists across the country are signing up to take part in the World Sight Day Challenge. Mark Soper Opticians in Hailsham is one practice that will be donating eye examination fees to mark the day. Mark comments, “the moment the sign up form arrived I knew this was something we wanted to get involved in. We are a relatively new practice and this is an excellent opportunity to raise much needed funds and promote the practice further. We will avoid doing any dispensing on World Sight Day itself so that we can fit in as many eye examinations as possible.”
Michelle Beavers from Helensburgh Eyecare in Scotland will be taking a product-related angle to the World Sight Day Challenge by donating £10 from each pair of spectacles sold: “Due to the new fees structure in Scotland people now receive their eye examination for “free” so it didn’t seem appropriate to donate our eye exam fees. Instead we decided to make a donation for each pair of spectacles sold and ask patients if they would like to donate too”.
It is not too late to take part in the World Sight Day Challenge, so please sign up today!
Bausch & Lomb Renew Gold National Sponsorship
Bausch & Lomb UK has committed £12,000 to support Optometry Giving Sight as Gold National Sponsors over the next year. As a National Gold Sponsor, Bausch & Lomb UK will play a leadership role in promoting the fundraising efforts of Optometry Giving Sight and in raising awareness of the tremendous work that is being carried out thanks to funds donated by the optometric industry.
“As an eye health company dedicated to perfecting vision and enhancing life for consumers around the world, it makes sense for Bausch & Lomb to support a charity which is giving millions of people sight and the chance for a better future,’ said Managing Director Gareth Steer. “It was also a natural choice for us to continue to support Optometry Giving Sight in view of our global support of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight.”
Sign up to the World Sight Day Challenge Today
Jonathan Walker Optometrists was the first practice in the UK to sign up to donate eye examination fees on World Sight Day, October 11th. Jonathan explains why he has chosen to take part: ‘My practice already donates to Optometry Giving Sight on a regular basis, but World Sight Day is a particularly important day for all optometrists to reflect on the importance of what we do – and remember that there are 300 million people in the world whose lives could be improved simply by having access to an eye exam and pair of glasses. This is optometry’s opportunity to make a difference’.
Lyn White, optometrist and AOP Councillor has pledged to donate her professional fees on World Sight Day. ‘No matter how you are involved in the optometric industry, there is scope for every one of us to get involved in the World Sight Day Challenge. I urge anyone reading this to sign up now!’
Visit Optometry Giving Sight at Autumn Events
As the International Charity of Choice of the AOP, Optometry Giving Sight has been invited to exhibit at the National Optometric Conference in Kenilworth. The line up includes a day of CET as well as an Employed Practitioners conference, and will this year be combined with the Hospital Optometrists Annual Conference. These events take place over four days, from the 25th-28th October.
Replay Learning, the CET provider and Supporter National Sponsor of Optometry Giving Sight, is providing a series of Clinical Conferences throughout the autumn. These will consist of four one-day conferences held around the country offering a range of clinical topics, workshops and debates. Optometry Giving Sight will be present at all four events in Bradford, Egham, Birmingham and London.
Optical Industry Unite To Give Sight
2007 has seen a fantastic response from companies across the industry offering their support for Optometry Giving Sight. Competition was put aside briefly at the BCLA this year when nearly £2,000 was raised through donations from some of the leading names in the industry – Alcon, Menicon, No. 7, Sauflon, See 20/20, Ultravision and Maui Jim.
Playing their part in the global campaign to eliminate preventable blindness caused by uncorrected refractive error, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care in the UK have made a significant donation of £5,000 to Optometry Giving Sight. CooperVision have also stepped forward and made a £1,000 donation in support of the World Sight Day Challenge.
Corporate Golf Day Raises Support among Scottish Optometrists
Alness Golf Club in the Highlands of Scotland was the venue for a Shotgun Texas Scramble Golf Competition on 27th July 2007, which raised £2,000 for Optometry
Giving Sight. Hugh Campbell, optometrist and organizer of the event, remarked that all 18 teams enjoyed a great day on the course.
A local company sponsored the green fees and Campbell Eyecare paid for the meal and prizes, resulting in all team entry fees going directly to Optometry Giving Sight. A raffle helped to top up the fundraising, and thanks are due to CIBA Vision, Christian Dior, Kodak Signet Armorlite, Humberside Optical and
Continental Eyewear for their kind donations of prizes.
Stockport Optometrist Wins Topcon Lens Meter
Optometrist Karen Frank of Karen Frank Opticians in Stockport has won a Topcon Lens Meter by signing up to support Optometry Giving Sight’s Regular Giving Programme. The promotion, which was launched at Optrafair in April, gave all optometrists who signed up to either the Regular Giving or Practice Giving Programmes the opportunity to be entered into the draw.
Karen expressed her delight at winning the lens meter, worth nearly £1,000, and said, “we are a relatively small independent practice and a new focimeter will be of great use to us, it is fantastic news. But the real gratification comes from knowing that my regular donation is helping to give sight to people around the world who are in desperate need of eye care”.
Optometry Giving Sight would like to congratulate Karen and thank Topcon for generously donating the lens meter
World Sight Day Challenge to be launched at Independents Day
Optometry Giving Sight will be launching this year’s World Sight Day Challenge, “Our Vision For Children”, at the Independents Day event in Birmingham on July 4th. The challenge invites optometrists, their practices and their staff to get involved in raising funds on or before World Sight Day, October 11th, and help give sight to the estimated 13 million children who are blind or vision impaired simply because they do not have a pair of glasses.
Nick Atkins, Director of Proven Track Record and provider of Independents Day, says “It seemed highly appropriate for Optometry Giving Sight to be present at Independents Day. We are very much in support of their goal to provide long term sustainable solutions in the developing world and it provides optometrists in the UK with an opportunity to raise the profile of their own profession.”
Click here to find out more about the World Sight Day Challenge, or come and visit the Optometry Giving Sight stand at Independents Day.
Launch of the Practice Giving Programme
The exciting new campaign for 2007, the Practice Giving Programme, has now been launched in the UK. The concept behind Practice Giving is simple. Participating practices make a commitment to raising funds for Optometry Giving Sight and then invite their patients to match their contribution in some way.
Generally, this will be in the form of a small donation to Optometry Giving Sight when the patient comes into the practice for an eye examination, new pair of glasses, or even a simple screw repair. This donation can be as little as a pound or two – and can be added to a patient’s invoice or collected separately.
There are three options for practices wishing to get involved:
Matching Donations: The practice invites the patient to make a small donation as described above, which the practice undertakes to match. This can be a one to one match, limited to a maximum monthly amount or a monthly guarantee.
Product Related Donations: The practice donates an agreed amount from the sale of one or more of its products (for example, £5 from the sales of every pair of glasses) and advises the patient that this amount will be donated to Optometry Giving Sight. The practice may also choose to display an authorised collection tin in their practice and to invite donations in return for screw repairs etc.
Special Promotions: The practice chooses to support the World Sight Day Challenge by agreeing to donate a day’s revenue on World Sight Day and by inviting their patients to add a pound or more to their bill throughout the month of October.
If your practice would like to get involved, or would like any more information, please
contact us on 020 7202 8168.
Visit Optometry Giving Sight at the Replay Learning Annual Clinical Conferences
Replay Learning, the CET provider and Supporter National Sponsor of Optometry Giving Sight, has teamed up with Optician Magazine to provide a series of Clinical Conferences throughout the autumn. These will consist of four one-day conferences held around the country offering a range of clinical topics, workshops and debates.
As Replay Learning’s Charity of Choice, Optometry Giving Sight will have a stand at all conferences in Bradford, Egham, Birmingham and London where visitors can find out more about the charity and the World Sight Day Challenge.
Optical Industry Unite to Give Sight
The optical industry put competition briefly aside at the BCLA this year in a joint effort to endorse Optometry Giving Sight. Nearly £2,000 was raised through donations from some of the leading companies in the industry – Alcon, Menicon, No. 7, Sauflon, See 20/20, Ultravision and Maui Jim.
“It is important for industry leaders to set an example and show support for organisations that are helping to give sight to millions of people around the world,” said Nick Loan, Managing Director of Ultravision. “Every donation to Optometry Giving Sight takes us one step closer to achieving the goal of eliminating preventable blindness by the year 2020.”
The BCLA was a great success for Optometry Giving Sight, with a number of optometrists signing up to the Regular Giving and Practice Giving Programmes.
Optometrists raise £8,000 by ‘Ticking Yes to OGS’
The AOP has presented Optometry Giving Sight, their International Charity of Choice, with a cheque for £7,239 on behalf of its members who made a donation and ‘Ticked Yes to OGS’ on their membership renewal forms. The CEO, Bob Hughes, presented the cheque at the AOP’s AGM in Belfast saying: ”We are delighted that so many of our members have chosen to support Optometry Giving Sight. We feel this is an unprecedented opportunity for the profession to collaborate in the fight against preventable blindness, and we are proud to be involved.”
Dr Jo Hollingsworth, Country Manager of Optometry Giving Sight in the UK, was thrilled with the amount raised and highlighted that the total would rise to over £8,000 once Gift Aid was claimed. Accepting the cheque alongside her was the Chairman of the Optometry Giving Sight National Committee and the newly elected President of the WCO, Bob Chappell. As an independent optometrist participating in the Practice Giving Programme, Bob explained: “If everyone in the optometric community were to get involved with this campaign we could have a significant impact in reducing the numbers of those whose lives are unnecessarily affected by uncorrected refractive error and low vision.”
Optometry Giving Sight would like to thank all members who made a donation and would like to invite readers to take part in the new the Practice Giving Programme.
Sign Up To Win A Topcon Lens Meter:
Sign up to support Optometry Giving Sight by the 6th July and you could be in with a chance of winning a brand new Topcon LM8 lens meter, worth nearly £1,000. Topcon have donated the lens meter to promote Optometry Giving Sight’s Practice Giving programme, and anyone who signs up to a regular donation either as an individual or through the Practice Giving Programme will be entered into the prize draw.
Regular donations allow Optometry Giving Sight to plan for the future and fund long-term sustainable solutions that have the potential to help millions in desperate need of eye care.
Optometrist Runs to Raise Funds
Optometrist Chris Ramsdale took part in the Great Manchester Run this
month, running double her usual race distance to raise funds for Optometry
Giving Sight. A big thank-you and congratulations goes out to Chris who raised over £400.
BCLA 2007
Optometry Giving Sight will be present at the BCLA Annual Conference which takes place 31st May – 3rd June at the International Convention Centre in Manchester. Come and visit the stand to meet the Optometry Giving Sight team and find out how you can get involved.
Optrafair 2007
Optrafair 2007 delegates showed their support of Optometry Giving Sight by signing up to take part in the innovative new campaign, the Practice Giving Programme, while others signed up to make a regular donation.
Projects funded by Optometry Giving Sight support the goals of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, and visitors had the opportunity to talk to a representative from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness/VISION 2020. Optometry Giving Sight funds projects run by service providers such as Sightsavers International and Christian Blind Mission (CBM) who also had a presence at the stand.
Thanks to Optrafair organisers, the Federation of Manufacturing Opticians, who donated stand space and to Optimed Ltd who donated an i-Vue practice display system for the duration of the event.
If you missed the opportunity at Optrafair to sign-up to one of Optometry Giving Sight’s fundraising programmes, it’s not too late – simply call 020 7202 8168 to find out how.
AOP Members Join the Fight Against Global Blindness
Optometry Giving Sight in the UK would like to thank all members of the Association of Optometrists (AOP) who chose to ‘Tick Yes to OGS’ and make a donation on their membership renewal forms. The response to the campaign has been extremely positive, with members clearly embracing Optometry Giving Sight as the AOP’s International Charity of Choice.
If you are an AOP member and have not yet returned your form and would like to make a donation, please remember to tick the Gift Aid box – as this makes your donation go further at no extra cost to yourself.
Dr. Jo Hollingsworth, UK Country Manager for Optometry Giving Sight, will be visiting many Local Optical Committees across the country to give a short presentation and answer questions about Optometry Giving Sight. Information will also be available on the Practice Giving Programme, which is shortly to be launched in the UK.
Optrafair 2007
Planning is underway for Optrafair, the largest optical exhibition in the UK, which takes place from the 21st – 23rd April at the Birmingham NEC. This year, the Federation of Manufacturing Opticians (FMO) has created an area especially for Associations and Charities, where Optometry Giving Sight has been donated stand space.
Visitors to the Optometry Giving Sight stand will have the opportunity to find out not only about how to get involved in raising funds, but also to hear more about the need worldwide and about the projects themselves. Optometry Giving Sight will be joined on its stand by its founding partner, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, incorporating the VISION 2020: The Right to Sight initiative, and implementing partners SightSavers International and Christian Blind Mission.
Contact Lens Industry Shows Support At Christmas
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care has made a generous donation of £2,000 to Optometry Giving Sight, in replacement of sending corporate Christmas cards. This is a fantastic drive and the donation will make a significant different difference to many peoples lives. Other leading companies in the field - CIBA Vision and Bausch & Lomb UK - sent Christmas cards that contained the Optometry Giving Sight logo and made a donation to Optometry Giving Sight for every Christmas card sent. Total figures will be announced shortly.
Replay Learning Becomes Sponsor
Replay Learning, the CET provider, has become a Corporate Sponsor of Optometry Giving Sight in the UK. Peter Charlesworth, Director of Replay Learning, commented: “We are very happy to lend our support to Optometry Giving Sight. It seems highly appropriate that as a CET provider we should back a charity which organises training and education for providers of eye care services in the developing world. It is particularly pertinent for us because a number of subscribers to our Virtual Lectures distance learning programme live in developing countries.” Optometry Giving Sight will be present at the Replay Learning CET events throughout the year.
Every Day is World Sight Day
Thank you to all the practices that responded to the 2006 World Sight Day Challenge! As well as inviting patients to add £1 to their bill there were many innovative ways of raising funds: One practice raffled a home made Christmas cake, another a cuddly toy and optometrist Sue Langton of Bridlington held a charity ball. Over £4000 has been raised. One of the key strengths of Optometry Giving Sight is galvanizing support of optometrists and their patients, and the World Sight Day Challenge was met with great enthusiasm by all.
The challenge of restoring sight to millions of people worldwide did not end on October 12. To continue raising funds, please implement the Practice Giving programme in your practice.
