Optometrists Tanjit Dosanjh, Ruth Perrott and Sarah Joyce have been recognised in the New Year Honours 2021 list and made an OBE, MBE and BEM respectively.
Dosanjh, who is the founder and CEO of the Prison Opticians Trust, has been awarded for his services to optometry in prisons and reducing re-offending.
Sarah Joyce, superintendent optometrist at Asda, was awarded a BEM for services to primary optical care during the Covid-19 response.
York-based optometrist Perrott was named on the Overseas and International List for her services to people living with sight impairment in Africa.
‘It feels an honour and a privilege to have this work recognised. Looking back over 30 years of collecting and recycling spectacles the system has grown and improved over the 16 trips I’ve done to various parts of Africa,’ Perrott said.
Her first seven trips to Africa were with Vision Aid Overseas (VAO) and she decided to continue the spectacles service alone when VAO stopped the direct service clinics.
With the assistance of Rotary York Ainsty, spectacles are washed, serviced, focimetered, labelled and supplied to extra clinics in Kenya, Yemen, Sri Lanka and Fiji Islands.
Perrott added: ‘Many thousands of people have had their quality of life restored and can continue to work and support a family thanks to their new spectacles. Demand is high and job satisfaction drives me on.’