Lions clubs have been collecting and sorting used spectacles for many years and
Haywards Heath Lions Club has been and still is actively involved in this scheme which is very successful.
The World Health Organization estimates that the eyesight of one-fourth of the world's population can be improved through the use of corrective lenses. Unfortunately for many, a pair of glasses is both unaffordable and inaccessible. In developing countries, an eye exam costs as much as one month's wages, and a single doctor may serve a community of hundreds of thousands of people.
A similar type of scheme involving used hearing aids has been equally successful but it has been decided to give this element a greater emphasis in the future as there is a great need in many third world countries for both spectacles and hearing aids. As a result, collection bins have been placed around the area but mainly in opticians premises to collect both types of items in the future. Bin collections are made by club members at regular intervals and the contents packed and despatched to a collection point in Chicheser under the auspices of Chichester Lions Club. After further checking, they are then forwarded onto Hastings Lions Club where they are cleaned, further checked (including calibration) before being sent by courier to countries that urgently need them. At the checking stage, NHS aids are out-sorted and returned for re-allocation by the NHS.
The Haywards Heath Club hope to send out 2,000 hearing aids this year so if you have one that you no longer use or know of somebody that can help to swell this number, please contact Lion Derek Taylor, Telephone 01444-412449, or Lion Ian Henderson on 01444-471319.
Haywards Heath Lions Club would like to take this opportunity to thank most sincerely all the audiologists and Hospital Departments who have and continue to help with expert technical advice and testing the equipment. Without this help, this important project could not happen. We would also like to thank in equal measure the owners/managers etc of the locations who allow us to site our collecting bins on their premises.
