Volunteer About volunteering If you are an Optometrist or Dispensing Optician, find out how you can help change lives across Africa. Vision Aid Overseas works with professional volunteers from the UK and Ireland to help establish sustainable eye care services in five African countries by: Providing training to local eye care workers Establishing Vision Centres where patients can access eye care services and glasses Supporting outreach services Why volunteer with Vision Aid Overseas? Vision Aid Overseas exists so that children in Africa who can’t see clearly can learn and get an education, and adults who can’t see clearly can earn to support their families and contribute to their communities. Our professional volunteers are integral to Vision Aid Overseas and help us to achieve our mission to fight poverty by transforming access to eye care and glasses in Africa by building sustainable services and training health care workers. Our volunteers do this by sharing their skills with health workers in the countries we work in to help build sustainable eye care services. Benefits of Volunteering with Vision Aid Overseas Be part of the solution to transforming access to eye care across Africa Be a part of building sustainable health care services overseas Help us deliver our vision and mission Meet like-minded people who want to make a difference Learn about people's lives, cultures and the challenges they face Help change lives Volunteering for Vision Aid Overseas has been amazingly rewarding. I have found it a privilege to use skills that can really make a difference and change peoples lives. Margaret Lawrence, Optometrist Five steps to becoming a Vision Aid Overseas Professional Volunteer Attend our next volunteer training course Become a member of Vision Aid Overseas Apply to go on to the volunteer list (after the training) If successful the wait is approx. 12 - 18 months from joining the list to being selected for an assignment, subject to your skills and availability matching the assignment needs. Undertake some fundraising Plan for the assignment within a team Go on an assignment and start making a difference (usually 2-weeks) Fundraising target Your first Assignment Next assignment Role £1,700 £1,100 (time frames apply) Team Members £800 Deputy Team Leaders £400 Team Leaders If you would like to find out more about volunteering with Vision Aid Overseas please see our frequently asked questions or email [email protected]. If I was to give any advice it would be to go for it! You'd be amazed how your small actions can change someone's life for the better. Find out more