Two members of the optical team at an opticians in Arnold were part of a group that completed more than 1,400 tests and dispensed nearly 3,500 pairs of donated specs during a charity visit to the Ashanti Development in Ghana, including testing the King of Nsuta.
Store director and dispensing optician, Claire Fletcher, and retail manager, Myles Davies, along with seven other members of Specsavers teams from across the midlands, held optical clinics for the locals over six days from October 7 to 17.
The group performed 250 tests daily on average and dispensed unwanted specs donated by customers in Arnold, collected throughout the year in store.
Claire said: “We flew into Accra, then took an internal flight to Kumasi, Ghana’s second city. Following an eventful trip by coach and jeep, we arrived at our destination, the small village of Gyetiase in the Ashanti area,
“We held clinics each day in the small village of Gyetiase in the Ashanti area. We worked long hours, approximately 12 hours daily, to make sure we got through as many people as possible, with some travelling huge distances to access the service.”
Announcements at local churches, markets, a radio station and word of mouth meant that by 3am each morning there was a queue of people waiting for treatment. On arrival, make-shift tents were set up and church pews brought in for people to sit on to wait for their appointment.
“We completed 1,406 tests in total,’ said Claire.
“The team did a fantastic job in making sure every patient left happy.”‘
She added: “A pair of spectacles can cost over a year’s wages for the people that we saw, so many are simply unable to access basic eyecare.’
“We are continuing to collect specs to send to third world countries at the store, so please call in and put any old or unused glasses in one of the collection boxes.
“We will be continuing our support of this wonderful development which has such a strong connection with Specsavers. We’ve seen firsthand that the specs go to such a worthy cause.’
For more information, pop into the store at 37 Front Street, Arnold NG5 7EA, call 0115 967 0856 or visit www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/arnold.
