Salisbury homeless to get glasses through donated eye checks
Opticians Haine and Smith have been working with Alabaré
Homeless people using Salisbury's Alabaré Place facilities have been given free eye checks, through a partnership with local opticians.
Haine and Smith, who have branches in Amesbury and Pewsey, carried out examinations during a drop-in session last week (Friday 24th June).
15 were tested and were found to need glasses, with the team going back next month to fit them.
Henry was one of the people that's received the free treatment:
“This is going to help tremendously. I wouldn’t have been able to walk into one of their shops due to my anxiety. So, them coming here, and the follow up support with the free glasses is phenomenal. I’m due to get varifocals with added glare protection which I could never have afforded myself. I just want to say thank you to everyone at Haine & Smith, this is really going to help me with my confidence."
The free eye care's being provided by Haine and Smith as part of their ongoing support of Alabaré.
They chose the cause as their Charity of the Year in 2021, and are now branching that out to offer support for the people supported by Alabaré more directly.
Those people that need glasses could choose frames that have been donated to Haine and Smith by customers and eyewear companies.
The opticians had more than 3,000 pairs of old spectacles handed in, ready to be fitted with new prescriptions.
Anna Lewin, clinical lead optometrist and partner at Haine & Smith, said:
“This is the third pop-up test centre we’ve carried out and they have all been very well received. As Alabaré Place is bigger than the other two homes we’ve visited, we brought two sets of equipment to make sure we could help as many of the residents as possible. A massive thank you needs to go to Thomson Software who have supplied us with the equipment each time, to support these clinics going ahead.”