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     Neill's specs, looking better than they are

Spectacles

VISION AID OVERSEAS (VAO) recycles around 90% of second-hand spectacles in this country.

Your local opticians will deliver your old specs to VAO for you - as long as you've packaged them properly. Read on:

VAO takes glasses in good condition only and without hard cases (too bulky). Pack in a sturdy cardboard box with a note saying who you are, and clearly mark with this address:

Vision Aid Overseas
12 The Bell Centre
Newton Road
Manor Royal
Crawley
West Sussex RH10 2FZ

Remember there's no need to post them; just hand them in to your local opticians - almost all of them (including independents) will pass them on for you.

Click if you want to know what happens next...
YOUR SPECS THEN HEAD OFF on a rather cosmopolitan journey: after being checked over in Crawley, they are passed to one of the prisons which collaborates with VAO.

Prisoners are trained by volunteers to carry out a more detailed examination, grading the lenses and packing them. VAO provides the optical instruments, hand tools and packing materials.

The glasses are then shipped to Africa and India to be distributed by qualified volunteers.