Spectacle Recycling
Don't throw away those old spectacles! Give them to a Lion instead
Holsworthy & District Lions are very happy to support the glasses and spectacles recycling project which is run by the Chichester Lions Club. Glasses collected by Holsworthy & District Lions are sent on to Chichester Lions who began collecting spectacles in 1967. It became a major project for Chichester Lions in 1980 with the delivery of 700 assorted specs to the Missionary Optical Society in Devon for use in their clinics in Kenya and India.In 1985 Chichester Lions linked up with the Le Havre Lions and Medico France and over the following five years some 100,000 specs, 43,000 lenses, and 10,000 frames were sent to Medico France while still delivering to MOS as many pairs of glasses as they needed. In 1988, another outlet was established through Vision Aid Overseas, and in 1990 Boots the Chemist and Help the Aged joined Chichester Lions in a national campaign which produced 460,000 pairs of specs in six months. These were sent all over the world including to the Cameroon, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka, India, Jamaica, Bolivia and Brazil.
Today Chichester Lions receive used spectacles from Lions clubs throughout the UK, as well as from opticians and supermarkets.There are two ways to donate your old glasses and spectacles:
(1) Simply drop them in the collection boxes which are located in Holsworthy Medical Centre, Holsworthy Hospital and Bradworthy Doctor's Surgery.
OR
(2) Send them FREE via Parcel Force to Chichester Lions by using the following steps:
(i) Pack the specs loose in stout well sealed boxes, each measuring no more than 50 x 33 x 33cm (20 x 13 x 13 ins) with a maximum weight of 10 kg.
(ii) Address them to: Chichester Lions Club, c/o The Apuldram Centre, Common Farm, Appledram Lane South, Chichester, West Sussex, PO20 7PE.
(iii) Mark each parcel: ARTICLES FOR THE BLIND - CONTRACT NO. R233259.
(iv) Please include your name, club/organisation (where appropriate), date dispatched, and e-mail address (if possible), preferably on a separate sheet inside the parcel. We try to send donators acknowledgement.
(v) Phone the Parcel Force Datapost Collection Centre on 0844 800 4466 and quote our contract No. R233259 - request the 48 hour service.