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Helping the world to see...

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  • About volunteering
  1. Volunteer

About volunteering

Our vision is a world where no one lives in poverty because of poor eyesight and no one lives with poor eyesight because of poverty. Our mission is to enable people living in poverty to access affordable spectacles and eye care.

VAO’s volunteers help deliver on its vision and mission.

Our volunteer model:

  • Supports the Global Standard for Volunteering for Development.
  • Is driven by the needs of the country partners we work with to help them build robust eye care services.
  • Supports the needs of our charity; VAO receives flexible and varying support from volunteers.
  • Has a range of volunteering roles.

Read these documents to find out more

VAO’s Position on Professional Volunteering (Summary version)

This is the best place to learn more, quickly, and includes a helpful statement around outreach.

VAO’s Position on Professional Volunteering (Full version)

This longer paper captures more detail around our latest review process, our research, and the evidence based recommendations that were approved by VAO's Board in 2019.

Global Standard for Volunteering for Development - published by The International Forum for Volunteering in Development (Forum).

VAO has signed a declaration to support the standard and so our future volunteering roles will align to its recommendations for best practice.

Become involved to help the world to see

It is very important to us that you are a Member of VAO. This is a good way to remain involved with the work of VAO and to stay up to date. And it’s a valuable way to ‘help the world to see’ via regular subscription fees, which are used to fund charitable activities in Africa and change thousands of lives.

Our pledge to sharing information about how we work and its impact

We publish the details of all the main restricted grant funds we receive for our country programmes on our website, so everyone can clearly see what activities VAO is under agreement to deliver in the countries in which we work.

Stay up to date

We will be adding new opportunities for volunteering on these pages in the coming weeks.

Have questions?

Look first at our FAQs to see if your questions are answered. 

Need to contact us?

Please email [email protected] in the first instance.

Real Stories

See Real Stories for the changes made to people's lives.

Volunteer Roles

Please see our Volunteer Opportunities page for any current volunteering opportunities.

 

Published: 26th July, 2016

Updated: 20th January, 2021

Author:

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  • About Volunteering
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  • Become a friend

    Become a friend

    As a Friend of Vision Aid Overseas you will know that your regular donations are going to help where the need is greatest.

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    Gift aid declaration form

  • Trustee required

    We are seeking a new Trustee to join our Board of Trustees to provide advice on technical or clinical aspects of Optometry, with connections across the Optometry Sector in the UK and Internationally.

  • Become a member

    Become a member

    Starting from only £48 per year, which is just £4 per month, you could become part of the solution to transforming access to eye care and glasses in Africa. Subscribe today to become a member.

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  • Training Courses

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    If you are an Optometrist or Dispensing Optician your skills could help change lives. Find out more at our one-day volunteer training course.

  • Where we work

    Where we work

    Africa has 73% more blind and visually impaired people than any other region in the world. Vision Aid Overseas works with local governments and community groups across four countries in Africa to ensure they establish and deliver their own sustainable eye care services. Find out more...

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    Testimonials

    See what our volunteers had to say about their time volunteering with Vision Aid Overseas and it changed their lives and the lives of their patients.

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  • Our vision

    Our vision

    No one lives in poverty because of poor eyesight; no one lives with poor eyesight because of poverty.

  • About volunteering

    About volunteering

    You can help the world to see by volunteering with VAO.

  • Chief Executive Officer

    Chief Executive Officer

  • Donate and make a difference

    Donate and make a difference

    Every person deserves the right to clear vision. Donate today and help transform lives through the gift of clear vision.

  • Our history

    Our history

    Now over 30 years old Vision Aid Overseas was founded by UK optometrists who wanted to donate their time and expertise to enable some of the worlds poorest people see properly so that children and their parents could learn, earn and build a better life.

  • Fundraising Team

    Fundraising Team

  • Governance

    Annual Reports, How we are funded, Child Protection Policy, Bribery Act Policy, Security and Safety Policy

  • Zambia

    Zambia

    Surrounded by some of Africa’s most beautiful landscapes, Zambia has only 44 qualified optometrists for a population of 17 million people.

  • Programmes Team

    Programmes Team

  • Ethiopia

    Ethiopia

    Located in the eastern region of Africa, Ethiopia is a rapidly developing country and is quickly emerging from extreme poverty.

Latest tweet

  • “The one biggest change for me since wearing glasses is that I can now see object clearly from a distant and be abl… https://t.co/fsbIhLp6DG

    24thJanuary, 2021 @_VAO
  • 12 million children worldwide struggle to learn because they don’t have eyecare. Education is a right, but for stud… https://t.co/6uXxyO3QiZ

    24thJanuary, 2021 @_VAO
  • It's #InternationalDayOfEducation and we know our amazing teachers are working extra hard this year due to Covid-19… https://t.co/D8iUCebE1l

    24thJanuary, 2021 @_VAO
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Vision Aid Overseas is a registered charity (in England) no. 1081695.
© 2016 Vision Aid Overseas. All rights reserved.

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