There was a striking dichotomy between the venue for this year’s Vision Care for Homeless People (VCHP) fundraising dinner and the societal problems it tackled – but this was a cause worthy of the grandest forum.
The dinner, funded by Dame Mary Perkins, was held in the dining rooms of Mayfair’s private Lansdowne Club. Since registering in 2003, the charity has tested 13,000 homeless people’s eyes at volunteer clinics across the country.
Passionate speakers, including volunteer, photographer and optometrist Shine Gonzalvez, resulted in volunteers, trustees and supporters raising £4,000 during the evening.
Actor Ben Miles welcomed guests, while Syed Kamall, MEP for London, also expressed his support for the charity.
VCHP, currently seeking Crisis for Christmas volunteers at six of its clinics from December 23-28 (see news), announced plans to reach 40% of homeless people by 2020 – up from 9% currently.
Kamall said: ‘When I tell people about the issue of homelessness, of course they have seen some of the pictures on TV but they hadn’t thought it possible in a city such as London.
‘When you meet some of the projects and families that work with the homeless, they will tell you it’s not a simple thing, it’s complex. And that’s not an excuse not to tackle the issue but they agree it’s a complex job.
‘Lets ourselves be part of the solution and do what we can to help projects like this one [VCHP].’
Elaine Styles, chair of VCHP, explained how GOS was failing many homeless people and called for changes.
She said: ‘Unfortunately, people are falling down between the system. If they’re not eligible to receive free eye examinations on the NHS then the only other option is to pay privately or through a charity.
‘We only have eight clinics in the country, which covers about 9% of homeless people at the moment. That’s not enough and we want to increase that.
‘If someone does get NHS help, they get one spectacle voucher every two years. But their property is more likely to be stolen, they might be assaulted or spectacles might be lost. This often happens within the two-year interval, so people are stuck and they can’t manage.
‘The current system of funding optical services through the NHS doesn’t work for most homeless people.’
Syed Kamall MEP for London expressed his support for VCHP
VCHP’s clinics witnessed a prevalence of high uncorrected refractive error, including prescriptions as high as plus 17 or low as minus 20. Risk factors included poor nutrition, trauma, smoking, drug abuse and infections, and without regular eye tests conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure were also going undetected, Styles said.
She added: ‘With all the difficulties they face, homeless people don’t prioritise eye care. They lead chaotic lives and even if they do think about their eyes they have difficulty in accessing high street opticians. They often don’t feel comfortable in the environment and they may feel unwelcome or embarrassed at not having an address to give.’
Together with lobbying for better access to eye care for homeless people, and formation of the Homeless Eye Health Alliance, VCHP was also planning to launch a domiciliary service next year to reach those isolated by current NHS regulations.
Harinder Paul, founder and MD of VCHP, said: ‘We are going to have an optometrist going with a mobile kit to homeless centres. Rather than having people come to us we are going to go out to them. And we are going to have eye buses going out to homeless people.
‘We are also going to be partnering up with high street opticians, such as Specsavers, Vision Express and independents, and encourage them to open up their doors to cope with people throughout the year at various times that will suit them.
‘Homeless people are ordinary people. I used to think that homeless people are lazy or living off the system. But they are just ordinary people like you and me.’
