Vision Care for Homeless People is a charity set-up to provide eyecare sevices to homeless and other vulnerable people within an accessible and friendly environment in which they feel safe, welcome and comfortable.
We operate three free clinics in London and one in Birmingham and we also provide the opticians service for the Crisis Christmas. Over a thousand hours of volunteering time is donated by optometrists, dispensing opticians and optical assistants a year to run the current clinics. We urgently seek more volunteers at all our clinics so we may continue to help as many people as possible.
At the start of 2011, the charity reached the important milestone of seeing its 5,000th patient but is aiming to expand further. New centres are being considered in areas such as Brighton, Manchester, Newcastle and Bristol, which have large pockets of homeless people.
It is a very rewarding experience helping your fellow human beings when they are at one of the lowest points of their life. The smile on their face when they see clearly again is priceless.
If you are interested in volunteering please call 0208 356 6532 or email info@vchp.org.uk We also require unused frames, maybe discontinued ranges that you no longer wish to sell, or equipment, refurbishing your practice and need a good home for the old equipment, then we can put it to good use. For more information please visit www.visioncareforhomelesspeople.org