SightFirst

Building upon its long-standing tradition of aiding the blind and visually impaired in local communities, in 1990 Lions Clubs International established SightFirst, an aggressive global blindness prevention initiative.

The unprecedented programme joins leading blindness prevention experts, blindness prevention organisations, governments and Lion volunteers in an effort to establish long-term solutions in eliminating preventable and reversible blindness. World-wide, SightFirst projects, funded by Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), are developed to fill the gaps between what is being done and what needs to be done by targeting the leading causes of blindness affecting large regional populations.

Since SightFirst was launched, 485 grants have been approved totalling more than US$100 million. SightFirst projects to fight cataract, train ophthalmic personnel, develop infrastructure and combat river blindness are underway in 75 countries on six continents. To finance SightFirst projects, Lions conducted Campaign SightFirst, a three-year fundraising effort that raised over US$144 million. Most of these contributions came from Lions around the world.

LEHP

The Lions Eye Health Program (LEHP) is an educational outreach initiative that enables Lions clubs to have a major impact in their communities in the fight against two leading causes of blindness in developed countries: diabetic eye disease and glaucoma. The program emphasizes the importance of regular comprehensive eye exams and timely treatment in preventing vision loss, and targets at risk groups including: African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, anyone over 60 and people living with diabetes.

Since 1994, LCIF SightFirst funding has been approved for the implementation of LEHP by 2,800 clubs in 32 states in the U.S., Canada, Japan, the British Isles, Ireland, Australia and Turkey. Participating Lions clubs use videos, posters, brochures and implementation guidelines to help provide sight-saving information about glaucoma and diabetic eye disease.

Spectacle Recycling

What started as a Club project for the Lions of Chichester now involves Lions Clubs throughout the UK, as well as opticians and supermarkets. Spectacles are delivered to Chichester in boxes and bags of all shapes and sizes and are processed by Club members and other volunteers in their 'workshop' in Graylingwell Hospital. They use their considerable experience to select the items that are suitable for recycling and to sort them in preparation for onward transmission to Medico France in Le Havre. Medico France have the necessary equipment to clean and grade the spectacles ready for use in eye camps in Africa and India.