More than 300 million people in the developing world are blind or nearly blind simply for the lack of spectacles.

Vision Aid Overseas is a charity dedicated to people in the developing world who need spectacles to live an ordinary life. Through a variety of methods, including direct service clinics, training initiatives and workshop creation, we help to bring the skills of UK opticians to tens of thousands of people each year. The work of VAO has an immediate effect on all the patients we reach and on every project we improve the lives of many of the world’s most needy people.

In the UK it is extremely easy to take eye sight and spectacles for granted, as there are 16,000 professional opticians servicing our needs. In the developing world this is simply not the case, and for many people spectacles are far too expensive or completely inaccessible. VAO project teams reach people most in need. A great deal of our work focuses on improving the lives of children, the elderly and those in dire poverty.

Please support Vision Aid Overseas and help the world to see.

Our Vision-

Vision Aid Overseas works for a world in which everyone has access to eyecare and spectacles.

Programmes and Activities-

The work of Vision Aid Overseas focuses on three activities.

Optical Training
All developing countries suffer from a severe shortage of optical profesionals. VAO provides training for doctors and other health workers in its tagret countries, equipping them with the skills required to examine eyes and dispense spectacles.

Optical Workshop Development
VAO establishes optical workshops that employ local staff to glaze and manufacture spectacles to the precise requirements of each patient.

Direct Service Deliver
Vision Aid Overseas sends teams of volunteer optical professionals to some of the world's poorest countries. The volunteers set up clinics, screen large numbers of patients and provide spectacles where necessary.