The Ulverscroft Foundation continues its support of Orbis’s sight-saving work

The Ulverscroft Foundation, which first funded Orbis's work in 2019, has pledged a grant of £25,000 towards establishing and supporting Orbis’s Women-Led Green Vision Centres in Bangladesh.

Robert Gent, Chair of the Ulverscroft Foundation, commented: "The Ulverscroft Foundation is keen to play its part in making high quality eye care accessible for all who need it. So we are delighted to be able to support the work of the Women-Led Green Vision Centres project in Bangladesh in preventing and treating sight loss in people in rural areas”.

The Ulverscroft Foundation was founded in 1973 by Dr Frederick Thorpe OBE, founder of the Ulverscroft Group, a global provider of reading materials for visually impaired people. Since its launch, the Ulverscroft Foundation has funded many hundreds of medical, social and library projects designed to serve the needs of visually impaired people world-wide.

Eti, 14, getting screened at a Orbis supported Women Led Green Vision Centre in Bangladesh.

Orbis's Women-Led Green Vision Centres are helping revolutionise eye care in rural Bangladesh. These centres break down the barriers preventing women from receiving eye care, while championing women's leadership in eye care and running on sustainable green power. Primarily serving low-income patients, the centres provide essential eye screenings and primary eye care services to those who might otherwise lack access to affordable treatment.

Each Women-Led Green Vision Centre is headed by a skilled female mid-level ophthalmic professional. Tasmia leads the Haimchar Vision Centre in Chandpur, Bangladesh. She says "After their children go through the surgery and see the world for the first time, the parents are often brought to tears and say it is because they visited this vision centre. Seeing them becoming so emotional and happy makes all the hard work I put in feel like it was the best thing I have ever done. The thought of me being able to help another person see this beautiful world makes me extremely emotional and motivated to keep on helping people." Since opening, the Haimchar Vision Centre alone has treated 8,914 patients and facilitated surgeries for 397 individuals.

Child patient getting screened at Women Led Green Vision Centre in Bangladesh

Tasmia who is a 26-year-old Mid-level Ophthalmic Personnel, screening Mahfuza, 11, at Orbis supported Haimchar Vision Centre.

Since 2019, the Ulverscroft Foundation has supported Orbis’s mission to put the treatment and prevention of vision loss within reach for all, with previous gifts supporting Orbis’s sight-saving work in Mongolia and strengthening hospital-based training in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi. This year’s donation highlights a shared mission to reduce avoidable blindness and vision impairment worldwide.

Anwara getting screened in Bangladesh at a Orbis supported Women Led Green Vision Centre.

Kate Gannon, Director of Programme Funding at Orbis.

Orbis is incred­i­bly grate­ful to the Ulver­scroft Foun­da­tion for their gen­er­ous sup­port of our Women-Led Green Vision Cen­tres in Bangladesh. This dona­tion will enable us to con­tin­ue our crit­i­cal work in Bangladesh, bring­ing eye care to those who need it most and help­ing to build gen­der-equi­table and sus­tain­able eye care sys­tems in rur­al areas. On a per­son­al note I grew up very close to Ulver­scroft Pri­o­ry so I’m par­tic­u­lar­ly pleased about this donation”

The Ulverscroft Foundation‘s continued support to Orbis underscores the importance of collaborative efforts in tackling global health challenges and will provide Orbis with the resources to reach more people in Bangladesh with the eye care they need to thrive.

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