The London Crisis at Christmas Opticians and Eyecare Service, which is run as a partnership between Crisis, the national charity for people experiencing homelessness and Vision Care for Homeless People, celebrated its 20th year in December, with the service growing from one initial clinic to nine in London.
Some 50 volunteers came together to provide 162 eye examinations. Longstanding support came from many optical businesses including Topcon, which equipped the pop-up ophthalmology and optometry clinic; Specsavers, which provided spectacle frames and financial support; EssilorLuxottica, which provided the lenses and glazing; and many other partners who donated supplies or loaned equipment.
There were 51 pairs of ready readers dispensed, and 104 guests are having specs made for them, and importantly, there were 13 referrals made to secondary care for further investigations.
Picture shows (left to right) the volunteer team at Pop-up Optometry and Ophthalmology Clinic in Bermondsey: Suzanne Althauser (Ophthalmologist), Sophie Green (Optometrist), Marcus Regan (Assistant Store Manager & Student Dispensing Optician), Arif Dungerwalla (Optometrist), Sana Sherif (Student Optometrist), Bita Manzouri (Ophthalmologist).
