CONLONS opticians in Penrith is teaming up with its customers to help supply new glasses to some of the poorest people in Ghana.
For every pair of spectacles Conlons cusomters buy they receive two free pairs. One pair is donated to helping improve eye care in Africa and the other is for the customers to keep.
Customers will fill in a card with their name and a short message which they will put in the box of the glasses to be sent to Ghana.
Eye Aid Africa is a specialist charity set up by a team of medical and eye care professionals to make a difference to eye care in some of the poorer areas of Ghana.
About 2.6 million people in West Africa are blind, but about three-quarters could have their sight saved with the right medical help. The provision of health care in Ghana is poor, compounded by, in a lot of cases, an inability to pay for what little services are available.
A group of Conlons staff members travlled to Ghana this month, taking 800 pairs (£10,000 worth) of glasses that Conlons has donated to Eye Aid Africa. During the one week trip the highly trained optometrists performed more than 1,000 eye tests.
Rachel cooper, manager at Conlons in Penrith, said: "This is the first ever promotion of its kind that helps both Conlons and our customers to support this important charity. The need for eye care spreads across all generations. Children simply cannot learn if they can't see the blackboard.
"The inability to read close up as we get older is simple corrected with glasses in this country. In Africa, access to optical services as well as cost prohibits many from being able to see clearly, if at all."