A Warminster optician has travelled to Ethiopia to help people there to see more clearly

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A STORE director and dispensing optician from Warminster has helped Ethiopians to see more clearly.

Richard Goring, from Specsavers in Three Horseshoes Walk, has returned from his fifth charity visit to Africa to support the work of an international eye care charity.

He was part of a six-strong group who visited a vision care centre based in a hospital in the Butajira region of Ethiopia.

His trip was organised in partnership with Vision Aid Overseas (VAO), which provides vital eye care to people in remote areas of Africa.

The group screened more than 1,500 people in total, carried out more than 650 eye tests and dispensed 450 pairs of spectacles in a two-week period during their visit.

Some were also referred back to Butajira for conditions such as cataract operations or glasses manufacture if their prescription was more complex.

Mr Goring said: “We travelled to different locations every day which were usually around a one to two hour drive time away from our hospital base.

“On the first day we went to somewhere the outreach programme hadn’t been before and we were greeted by a crowd of more than 350 people wanting to be seen. It was a pretty incredible sight as we approached.

“It’s always hugely rewarding to be able to help people who don’t have easy access to eye care, something we take for granted in this country.

“While five of us were part of the outreach programme travelling to different locations, we also had a volunteer visiting people in their homes to help with low vision aids.

“We also took the opportunity to check their optical equipment, some of which needed fixing which we are now following up on.”

Mr Goring, who was the deputy team leader for the trip, became involved with VAO through Specsavers in 2013, and along with Ethiopia, has travelled to Botswana and Zambia.

www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk

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