Association of British Dispensing Opticians Expand A long term supporter of VAO, the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) is the only professional body in the UK solely dedicated to the interests of dispensing opticians, both individually and collectively, and to the profession of dispensing optics.
Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) Expand In 2004, ABDO announced Vision Aid Overseas as its official Charity of Choice and committed to support their work in a number of ways. Every year, ABDO will award bursaries to successful applicants who are members of ABDO with a £500 donation towards their fundraising total for their overseas assignment. How to apply If you’re a Dispensing Optician and have been selected to join an overseas assignment, you can apply for an ABDO bursary by contacting Sir Anthony Garrett by emailing [email protected] at the Association of British Dispensing Opticians explaining why you would like to apply for the bursary.
Bambooka- Eyewear Africa Ltd Expand Bambooka- Eyewear Africa has been supporting Vision Aid Overseas since early 2016. Bambooka have pledged to donate to Vision Aid Overseas for every pair of sunglasses sold, therefore for every pair of Bamboo sunglasses you purchase you will be helping a child or an adult in Africa see their way to a brighter future.
Can Vision Aid Overseas claim Gift Aid on my fundraising? Expand Yes, depending on how you have raised the money. it could be worth 20% more to Vision Aid Overseas at no additional cost to you. Please make sure that you have completed a Gift Aid Declaration for Vision Aid Overseas, and if you are raising money from friends, family or colleagues please ask them to tick the Gift Aid box when they make a payment to you. Please note Gift Aid is not included when calculating any minimum donation amount for challenge events or assignments.
Chief Executive Officer Expand Nicola Chevis - Chief Executive Officer Nicola joined Vision Aid Overseas in March 2017. Since 1994 Nicola has worked for different International Non-Governmental Organisations starting with Oxfam GB coordinating their work in East Asia and then in Mozambique, with GOAL Ireland as a Country Director in Sierra Leone and with Voluntary Services Overseas first as a Country Director in Vanuatu and then as their global head of programming planning and monitoring and evaluation based in London. Latterly she worked for Save the Children International firstly for their Global Campaign to reduce maternal and child mortality and for the last 3.5 years as their Deputy Director and then Interim Director for their Child Protection work globally. Nicola brings her strengths in driving high quality programmes, institutional funding, working with volunteers for development impact and leading high performing teams to the CEO role. To contact Nicola, email [email protected]
Country Manager - Ethiopia Expand Belachew Paulos - Country Manager Belachew Paulos joined Vision Aid Overseas in April 2016. He was born in a small town in Ethiopia called Yirgacheffe, 395 km away from the capital city, Addis Ababa. In 2012, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Optometry from Hawassa University. Since graduating, he has been working as an Optometrist at Zewditu memorial hospital in Addis Ababa. In his spare time, Belachew is the President of the Ethiopian Optometry Association. To contact Belachew, email [email protected] Team members Aster Berhanu - Programme Manager Aster Joined Vision Aid Overseas in May 2021. Since she graduated from Jimma University in 2007 with Bachelor of Science in Nursing, she has been working in different governmental and non-governmental organizations for almost 14 years. Starting as health care worker in a remote health centre, she has been working with World Vision Ethiopia as health Facilitator, health specialist and Emergency response coordinator and with The Fred Hollows Foundation as project officer, project coordinator and finally as technical advisor. To contact Aster, email [email protected] Meron Mideksa Wakjira - Junior Finance Officer Meron joined Vision Aid Overseas in August 2019 and works working as a Junior Finance & Admin Officer. She was born in a small town of Ethiopia called Southwest Showa, 90km away from the capital city, Addis Ababa. In 2019, Meron graduated with a Bachelor of Art degree in Marketing Management from Rift Valley University College.
Dame Mary Perkins Co-founder of Specsavers Optical Group Expand ''The projects Vision Aid Overseas undertakes differ according to the varying eyecare needs of each country. This is one of the charity's key strengths - it can adapt itself to suit individual development requirements. They attract volunteer UK optometrists, recycle unwanted glasses and work well with overseas health departments and government officials to enable local people to have access to the skills and training required to deliver eyecare themselves in their own country. By encouraging countries to have a sustainable eyecare service, that country is less reliant on volunteer aid, which can be sporadic, although VAO continue to offer ongoing support as and where it is needed.'' Dame Mary Perkins, Co-founder of Specsavers Optical Group
Dr Ving Fai Chan Expand Dr Ving Fai Chan is a Malaysian Optometrist who lectures (Global Eye Health) at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). He completed his master’s degree from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Doctorate in Optometry from the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN). Having lived and worked in Africa for 10 years, he works to address the persistent grass-root level barriers towards successful eyecare initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. His work focuses on designing and testing innovative and pragmatic approaches to address eye health challenges in resource-constrained countries. He contributed to the establishment of the first School of Optometry in Eritrea, where he lived for 3 years. He then worked as the Research Manager for an international eyecare NGO, primarily studying the impact of spectacle corrections on different populations in Africa to assist advocacy efforts. In addition to his role at QUB, he is an Honorary Lecturer at UKZN (South Africa), the Research Adviser of the Tanzanian Optometry Association and a member of the WHO Primary Eye Care Intervention Technical Working Group. His current major research studies are in South Africa, Zanzibar, Nigeria, India and China.
Dr. Naomi Nsubuga Expand Dr. Naomi Nsubuga an optometrist from Uganda with over 25 years of experience working in the eye health sector in a variety of settings in the UK, USA and in Africa. She has worked in the private sector, in hospital-based and public health optometry, as well as in academia. She obtained both Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Optometry degrees from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University in the USA and is a Fellow of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians. Dr. Nsubuga is a member of the National Prevention of Blindness Committee in Uganda and serves on the Technical, Low Vision and Child Eye Health committees. She has been appointed on committees that developed the National Strategic Eye Health Plan, the Low Vision Guidelines, and the Clinical Guidelines for Eye Health in Uganda. She has served on the Legislation and Education committees of the World Council of Optometry (WCO) and is currently on the Public Health Committee of the African Council of Optometry (AFCO). She is one of the founders and is the current President of the Optometrists Association of Uganda (OAU). Dr. Nsubuga has 15 years of experience working as a Regional Programme Manager for an international NGO managing community eye health projects in Eastern Africa in 5 countries namely Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. She has experience working with donors and governments. She has worked with government institutions to lobby for the training, recognition, regulation, and creation of posts for optometry in the public sector; strengthening refractive error services; child eye health services and health systems strengthening. She has managed a variety of projects in areas of Human Resource Development (optometry development, workforce development), Infrastructure development, Child Eye Health, School Eye Health and Comprehensive Eye Health. Dr. Nsubuga is currently an optometry lecturer at Makerere University College of Health Sciences, a Low Vision and Child and School Eye Health advisor and consultant to the Ministries of Health and Education as well as organisations working in Uganda.
Dunelm Optical Expand Established over 40 years ago, Dunelm Optical is one of the UK's most successful suppliers of designer eyewear and fashion frames, spectacle cases, prescription glazing, sunglasses and eyewear accessories. Dunelm have been Titanium Members of Vision Aid Overseas since 1998.
DX Delivery Services Expand DX Delivery Services generously supported Vision Aid Overseas since the 1990s by donating their service to us. DX used to pick-up used glasses, which Opticians and Practices used to collect on our behalf, and deliver them to our head office for recycling to support our programme work overseas.
Essilor UK Expand Essilor have supported Vision Aid Overseas for over 10 years through a range of activities. Most recently Essilor sponsored and entered a team in the Eyecare Cycling for Sight event in the Lake District helping to raise vital funds for our work in Africa.
Finance Team Expand Justin Rees - Interim Director of Finance Justin’s career has been as a financial management specialist within the public and charitable sectors. As a qualified Chartered Public Finance Accountant and with senior experience in the health service, education and not for profit sectors Justin’s role is to ensure VAO has the Finance and IT services necessary to deliver its mission and achieve its strategic goals. To contact Justin, email [email protected] Team members Trudy Moody - Finance and Admin Officer Trudy joined Vision Aid Overseas in September 2009 as Finance and Administration Officer. Her role has developed a lot over the years as the charity has grown and she primarily manages the income and expenditure of the charity, including regular donations, memberships and Gift Aid. She supports all the teams at the charity, including Fundraising and Programmes. Before joining VAO, Trudy spent many years working in HR at both British Airways and a pharmaceutical company. [email protected] Fouzia Toufeeq - Finance Officer [email protected] For general finance enquiries please email [email protected]
Fiona Bruce British journalist, newsreader and television presenter Expand "Helping people regain their sight can be the key to so much more. It opens up the chance of a better life - whether it enables someone to work to feed their family, to read their books in school or simply to maintain dignity in old age. Vision Aid Overseas is providing an essential service to so many people and I urge you to support them."
Funding Vision Aid Overseas Work. Expand Vision Aid Overseas works in partnership with a wide range of supporters, partners and funders. As a charity, we very much rely on the generosity of people like you to support our work. Our funding comes from a variety of sources including individuals though membership subscriptions, gifts in wills and donations. We are also supported by community organisations and a wide range of corporate supporters and grant makers. Vision Aid Overseas is extremely grateful to everyone who makes our work possible. We aim to treat all those individuals and supporters who make our work possible with dignity and respect at all times. We receive two types of funding restricted (for specific projects) and unrestricted (for the ongoing delivery of our charitable objectives).
Fundraising Team Expand Amber Woodward-Brown - Head of Fundraising and Communications Amber joined Vision Aid Overseas in October 2020 and has a very strong background in Fundraising and Communications. Having worked for St John Ambulance, Alzheimer’s Society and Make a Wish UK in various senior roles she brings passion and expertise in community fundraising strategy, volunteer management and key corporate account stewardship. She is a member of the Institute of Fundraising and was invited to sit on the prestigious IOF forum for corporate retention, picked to advise the IOF annual convention as an industry leader. Amber lives on the beautiful East Sussex coast and enjoys sea swimming and family adventures. To contact Amber, email [email protected] Team members Matthew Bentham - Fundraising and Communications Officer Matthew has volunteered for many causes, from local community groups to national charities, and has training in fundraising, graphic design and journalism. He has also worked in a variety of communication roles in local government, academic publishing and environmental groups. He lives on the south coast of England and knows the value of VAO’s work, as he has been wearing glasses since the age of nine. [email protected] Ros Bird - Fundraising Consultant – Institutions Ros has 20+ years experience working in a variety of charity fundraising/marcoms roles including over 10 years with the NSPCC (multi income streams) and more recently as Head of Fundraising for The Virtual Doctors. Ros helps us to develop Trust, Foundation and Institutional Funding relationships. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (International Advance Diploma) and holds a CIM Marketing Diploma. She is an experienced Trustee/volunteer/company secretary. Now living in West Sussex, she has spent several years living in Kenya and has also worked in Zambia. Ros loves hiking and jogging and takes a keen interest in conservation. [email protected] For general fundraising enquiries please email [email protected]
Ian Kerr Expand Ian has been involved in fundraising and overseas aid and development since starting ActionAid, one of Europe’s larger NGO’s, usually in fundraising or project development roles. These have taken him to 20 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He has recently served on the international board of The Brooke and their affiliate boards in India and Pakistan and until 2020 chaired Virtual Doctors, a health charity working in East Africa. Ian was one of the UK’s most experienced fundraisers winning the Consultant of the Year award and helped set up the Institute of Fundraising and served on the board of the Association of Fundraising Consultants. He designed successful appeals for Deafblind UK, Orbis and Talking Newspapers. Ian has been a Fellow of both the British Institute of Management and the Administrative Accounting Institute. Since retiring he has been an volunteer ambassador for VisionCare for the homeless in Brighton, a trustee of Raystede Animal Sanctuary, socialised a hearing dog and he plays tennis and walks his dogs daily.
If I donate the minimum amount myself but then raise more money through fundraising, can I get a refund on the amount I have personally donated? Expand Unfortunately not, donations are non-refundable.
International Aid Transparency Initiative Expand Vision Aid Overseas is committed to being transparent in its work and accountable to key stakeholders, in particular to the communities we work with. Transparency is key to greater effectiveness and accountability, enabling us to demonstrate how effective our work is and how we constantly learn and improve on practice and performance. The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) aims to make information about aid spending easier to find, use and compare so that all stakeholders involved in aid programmes are better able to track what aid is being used and what it is achieving, from funders, supporters, the public and partners to the beneficiaries of that aid. Improving transparency also helps governments in developing countries manage aid more effectively. This means that each pound will go as far as possible towards fighting poverty. Vision Aid Overseas is currently working towards full compliance to the transparency standards of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). Currently available data in XML format relates to our DFID funded project in the southern Ethiopia, but further project data will be available in the coming months. Reports Improving the livelihoods of people in five districts of Ethiopia by increasing access to primary eye care, spectacles and treatment for eye diseases (Vision Aid Overseas GPAF Project)- Download GPAF Project (GPAF-IMP-094) Annual Report Year 1 - Download GPAF Project (GPAF-IMP-094) Annual Report Year 2- Download