Charitable boost at BCLA gala dinner

 Over £4,000 was raised for Optometry Giving Sight as the chosen BCLA charity at the recent gala dinner in Brighton.
Professor Brien Holden, chairman of OGS globally, presented a film on the dramatic impact of correcting vision in people in need in Africa, Timor and especially the tsunami devastated areas in Sri Lanka.
Professor Holden said over 200 million people in Africa, Asia, the Western Pacific and Latin America have never had the chance of refractive correction, either being functionally blind or visually impaired through a lack of an eye examination and a pair of glasses. 'It is our responsibility  to eliminate this most simple and tragically wasteful form of vision loss, by giving support that will help those in need.'
OGS signed up practitioners and industry personnel to committ to a £20 monthly contribution to sustain the Vision 2020 programmes in refractive error and low vision delivered by the OGS collaborating partners from the World Council of Optometry, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and the International Centre for Eyecare and Education.
Each new member will receive in-store  leaflets and posters for further fundraising.
Gemma Ortiz Genovese, European, programme manager, said: 'We hope that all optometrists and opticians will support this global fundraising initiative.'
 Contact 020 7958 8169 or email: gemma@givingsight.org