VAO celebrates achievements

Vision Aid Overseas (VAO) celebrated 25 years of charitable work at its 2009 annual general meeting and conference in Birmingham last month.

Describing to members the very first VAO volunteer trip in 1984, founding chairman Brian Ellis said: 'What struck home was the way in which by using our skills as optometrists, we had been able to transform the lives of those so much in need.'

Explaining the charity's objectives, he added: 'We must help teach and train others so in turn they can use their skill to enable their fellow countrymen to see. Since VAO developed these courses, we have been recognised by the World Health Organization which is implementing the Vision 2020 campaign to eliminate avoidable blindness by 2020.'