Glassess for Africa

Casey Wriight (Scrivens), Hannah Bishop (Specsavers),
Donna French (Rushden Lakes), Richard Massey (Rotary Club of Rushden)

From Rushden

To

Africa

Ruth Perrott MBE in action in Senegal

Thanks to the tremendous support from both within The Rotary Club of Rushden and the wider community, especially local schools, Rushden Lakes, Specsavers and Scrivens Opticians, 12,039 pairs of unwanted spectacles have been collected since September 2022.  

They have been sent to SpecSort - a project run by Rotary York Ainsty for onward transmission to Africa, helping people who otherwise couldn’t access or afford glasses to see again, whether they be children now able to attend school or adults who can now work and earn a living.

The SpecSort project, co-ordinated by Ruth and Colin Perrott, was launched by Rotary York Ainsty more than 25 years ago.  Rotarians in York meet regularly to sort, clean and grade redundant and unwanted spectacles - which are then given to needy recipients in Africa. 

Volunteers from the UK go to African countries, where they run diagnostic clinics and give the spectacles. Optometrist Ruth Perrott MBE has visited the African continent on at least twelve occasions, providing spectacles and training communities in The Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Tanzania and Senegal.

To donate any unwanted spectacles then please contact Ruchard Massey using the contact form below.