WARMINSTER Lions Club is going to deliver thousands of unwanted spectacles to families who need them in developing countries.

Hosted by the Gillingham, Mere & Shaftesbury combined Lions Club, the event involves Lions clubs in the area bringing their unwanted spectacles collections to the Zeals collection point before they are delivered to Petersfield in Hampshire.

From there they are shipped over to a specialised centre in France, funded by Lions, where they are cleaned, graded and repacked.

Richard Owen, of Warminster Lions Club, which has collected 3,544 spectacles, said: “Last year 26,300 pairs of spectacles were loaded for onward travel via Petersfield in total and it is hoped that could well be beaten again this year.

“A welcome new initiative this year was the willing participation from the 7th Warminster Brownies in holding their own spectacle collection which was contributed to the Warminster Lions total.

“This helps the Brownies to partake in a community service event and discover how important it is for less fortunate people to receive professional eye healthcare and spectacles free of charge through the support of Lions Clubs both at local and international level.”

The spectacles are shipped to developing countries where families have little or no income, where a pair of spectacles can cost as much as three months wages to buy.

Following that they are given free to those attending Lions Eye Camp clinics set up by Lions Clubs International in more remote districts, where professional eye care support is given free of charge as part of the Lions challenge to combat preventable blindness and eye disease.

The majority of the Warminster collection of spectacles come from Specsavers Opticians as well as local collection points including the Warminster Lions Bookshop.