TO commemorate Lions World Sight Day yesterday, Thursday, October 11, the Lions Club of Crediton and District, by kind permission of Morrisons supermarket in Mill Street, Crediton, has been collecting old, used, spectacles.

The spectacles collection began at the Crediton store on Monday, October 8 and ends tomorrow, Saturday, October 13.

Crediton and District Lions Club collect the donated spectacles as part of its Sight Savers Projects.

The spectacles are forwarded to Chichester Lions Club.

The Chichester club sorts the spectacles and many go, through Medico France in Le Havre, to help people in Kenya and India, Cameroon, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka, Zanzibar, Jamaica, Bolivia and Brazil.

Medico France have the necessary equipment to clean and grade the spectacles ready for use in eye camps in Africa, India and Eastern Europe.

The club has also developed contacts with individuals and charities based in the UK which are carrying out eye-camp projects overseas which are able to use spectacles the club is recycling and supplying.

Every year the Chicester club sends more than 300,000 pairs of spectacles to Medico France.

Crediton Lion Peter Bryan explained that if anyone misses the donation collection at Morrisons, not to worry as there are collection bins for such glasses at the town’s doctors’ surgeries and they can also be left at the “Crediton Courier” office.

Mr Bryan also pointed out that old hearing aids are also being collected in the same way and these would be welcomed.