We are launching our Christmas Appeal on Giving Tuesday which falls this year on 28.11.23 to help us provide free eyecare to our 20,000^th patient in 2024 - please can you support us?

Over the past 20 years Vision Care for Homeless People has helped improve the sight of around 18,500 people who would otherwise have missed out on eyecare and we are looking forward to helping 1500 more over the coming year with your help. 

Why is an eyecare service important?  

Good vision and access to treatment when needed is something that people take for granted but without our service many of those who use our clinics would miss out on eyecare. One third of patients have never had an eye test and another third have not had a test in the past 10 years. 

Sight tests help detect vision impairment, eye conditions and other health issues. We know that people who use our clinics are much more likely to have a long-standing eye health problem than the general population. Conditions include a higher prevalence of uncorrected refractive error, cataract, glaucoma, binocular vision problems and a higher risk of macular degeneration.

Good vision is important to wellbeing - and providing free access to eyecare removes one of the barriers to finding accommodation or work. 

What VCHP does 

We run 8 clinics based in homeless centres across the UK where people experiencing homelessness can access free sight tests, eyecare and glasses if needed, in an environment in which they feel safe and welcome. We also see patients who are living in insecure housing and have health issues or disabilities, or whose personal circumstances make them vulnerable. In the coming year we will be providing eyecare services through our existing clinics. We will also be opening some new clinics in other city centres so we can reach more people – but we need your help to do so.

You can help by donating the cost of a sight test 

Providing a sight test cost through our clinic’s costs approximately £20 per patient. As two thirds of our patients don’t qualify for free sight tests through the NHS, we estimate we will need to cover the costs of 1000 sight tests over the year if we want to reach our target of helping 1500 people. This totals £20,000. For our Christmas appeal we are looking raise an initial £5000 to help us run our clinics in 2024. Please join us by donating the cost of one or more sight tests - or sign up to support us on a monthly basis and spread the cost of donating throughout the year. 

How else can you help? 

All our clinics are staffed by people who volunteer their time. This appeal is also asking for optical professionals to help us by volunteering their time.  You can find out about volunteering on our webpages.

Over the past 20 years many companies have also helped us provide our free service for the 18,500 patients we have seen– by providing equipment, free services and donations in kind. You’ll hear from some of those companies during Giving Tuesday. If your company would like to support us next year with donations in kind or fundraising please get in touch with our Alison - our Community & Corporate Fundraiser    [email protected]