AOP
The Association of Optometrists (AOP) delivered many hours of CPD at 100% Optical through lectures, workshops and peer review sessions. Dr Ian Beasley, AOP head of education, commented: ‘This year’s show was a great success, with positive feedback from attendees, highlighting the exceptional value that our educational offering continues to provide.’
Serena Box, head of media, PR and external affairs at the AOP, outlined the organisation’s focus at the event: ‘We’ve been promoting our PA report, which is around the core interventions. Our main conversations have been around how we influence government and get those interventions implemented, particularly in terms of the glaucoma pathways and cataract pathways.’
The AOP was also conducting its Voice of Optometry survey, primarily focused on myopia management, with plans to launch a campaign based on the findings. In addition, the organisation was developing its five-year strategy, set to be published later this year.
Box highlighted the challenges the AOP was responding to, stating: ‘The pressure on services is a big theme for us in terms of our campaigning and external affairs work, particularly around the backlog and optometry’s role in wider primary care solutions.’
College of Optometrists
The focus for the College of Optometrists at 100% Optical was to boost visibility and engage with both current and potential members, according to Juliet Leach, director of membership, marketing and communications at the College of Optometrists.
She also highlighted the College’s focus on associate membership and the need for more supervisors in practice, a role open to all eye care professionals (ECPs).
Leach elaborated on the College’s ambitions at the event and said: ‘We are really passionate about bringing the optical sector together, helping them learn from each other and find the most effective way for brilliant patient care.
Coming here, it’s not just about meeting our members and answering their questions but also introducing the College to dispensing opticians and deepening connections with our employer partners, as well as suppliers interested in exhibiting at our conference.’
The College was also working with the RAC to tackle headlight glare. ‘Government is taking it seriously, but the focus is to make sure the manufacturers realise that, actually, these headlights are too bright,’ Leach said. ‘That’s just one example of how we’re serving the public by lobbying, working with government and working with partners like the RAC to really make a change.’
Blind Golf
Making its debut at 100% Optical, charity Blind Golf invited visitors to step into the shoes of those with sight loss. Attendees tried their hand at a miniature golf setup while wearing glasses that simulated conditions such as cataracts, tunnel vision and diabetic retinopathy.
Andy Gilford, CEO of Blind Golf, explained the charity’s mission at the event: ‘We want to join your community [of ECPs] because it can help us reach ours.’
He explained how optometrists delivering the news of sight loss could offer hope by encouraging patients to join Blind Golf, which supports people on their sight loss journey and helps them continue playing golf at any level. ‘That’s why we’ve come to 100% Optical. It’s a big commitment for a charity to invest, but I think it’s important that eye care brands help us develop our community at the same time.’
Hopefully, it has all been made worth it, as Gilford reflected: ‘I’ll be honest, I’m blown away. I’m very lucky that everybody seems to understand what we’re trying to do here and why it’s so important.’
A few ways companies could get involved included through funding and donations, employee volunteering or by signposting patients who could benefit from the programme – whether they’re experiencing sight loss or could volunteer as guides.
Guide Dogs
100% Optical provided an ideal platform for sight loss charity Guide Dogs for the Blind to reach thousands of optical professionals to discuss the work it does to deliver support, as well as help raise funds through its Sponsor a Puppy scheme and promote volunteer opportunities.
With the number of people with sight loss in the UK set to double by 2050, Guide Dogs was committed to breaking down the barriers faced by people with sight loss every day. ‘Without the right support, when a person loses their sight, it can feel like losing everything: confidence, freedom and identity. Plans for the future and hopes of living a life they choose can feel impossible,’ the charity explained.
‘Our expert staff, volunteers and life-changing guide dogs help people with sight loss live the life they choose. We couldn’t continue our vital work without generous donations and our amazing volunteers.’ With more than 1,000 visually impaired people currently waiting for a guide dog, Guide Dogs emphasised its urgent need for volunteers to help raise puppies and support dogs through training.
Sightsavers
Sightsavers, a charity dedicated to preventing avoidable blindness worldwide, attended 100% Optical as part of its fundraising strategy. Rob King, corporate relationships manager at Sightsavers, said the charity hoped to develop support from both corporate and eye health partners through fundraising, donations and advocacy.
‘There’s definitely an appetite when we start having these conversations, so it’s just about getting in front of people and speaking to them about our work,’ King told Optician.
He explained that the charity’s communication efforts focused on clarifying the direct link between its work and the role of ECPs at 100% Optical – that is, helping to prevent avoidable vision problems.
‘And we’re doing that in places where there’s a greater need. All we need is a little bit of assistance – with the training and projects in place – to make it happen.’
King noted that discussions with Nikon were progressing toward a long-term partnership, with promising talks under way with other companies.
GOC
Steve Brooker, director of regulatory strategy at the GOC, said that every year, the GOC attended 100% Optical as the event provided an opportunity to share updates about its work, answer registrants’ questions, network and engage in relevant CPD sessions that may inform its work.
‘We met many registrants over the course of the weekend, which was an opportunity for us to promote the new Standards of Practice, which came into effect on January 1 and the CPD guide for the 2025-27 cycle,’ he commented.
Brooker added that the GOC will launch its new corporate strategy for 2025-30 in April, outlining its priorities for the next five years and introducing a new vision focused on providing safe and effective care for all.
RNIB
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) was at the event to highlight its CPD offerings, from online courses to low vision peer review sessions, and to help ECPs support their patients, according to Mandy Boucher, low vision centre practice manager at RNIB.
The charity was also promoting its booklets and prescription pad for practitioners to signpost patients to RNIB and other services.
Preeti Singla, optometry and low vision engagement manager, noted that 100% Optical provided the charity with a platform to deliver two workshops aimed at helping primary care optometrists and dispensing opticians understand their role in the RNIB’s eye care support pathway, launched in 2023 in collaboration with sector partners.
‘A lot of what RNIB does is directly with patients, but if we can support practitioners, then we can reach even more people,’ she said.
Singla added that engagement at the event had been strong, with many professionals keen to find ways to help their patients and customers. ‘By producing
simple-to-use resources, such as our prescription pad, we’ve tried to make supporting people as easy as possible. It’s just asking a couple of questions, then signposting people to the right services and giving something they can take away with them.’
OSA 
Janice English, a self-publicity consultant representing the Optical Supplier Association (OSA), shared updates on the organisation’s work. The OSA was in discussions with the College and the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) to expand its green charter into an industry-wide initiative.
‘Our main focus is to support our members, and the green charter is a key part of that,’ English said. ‘Our guidance on the green charter lays out at five different levels of what you’ve got to do, so that’s a great reassurance for our members.’
English also spotlighted the OSA’s collaboration with parenting platform Mumsnet, emphasising its ongoing potential. Alongside ABDO and the College, the OSA was compiling answers to common questions from parents based on a recent Mumsnet survey.
‘The information will go out to the consumer media, but we’ll also be keeping the profession informed as to what we’re doing and what we’re telling consumers. We don’t want people to have surprises. So that will be happening in March and April, and we hope that Mumsnet will help us pick up and run with it,’ she explained.
