A ROTARY club from York has chalked up two decades of helping poorly-sighted people in developing countries to see again.

Members of Rotary Club of York Ainsty have sorted through thousands of pairs of used spectacles since July 1991, selecting pairs suitable for transport overseas by Vision Aid Overseas (VAO).

Teams of optometrists and dispensing opticians have then been giving them to people in countries such as Burkina Faso and Malawi.

A club spokesman said the used specs have been collected by optometrists, opticians, Rotary clubs, Lions International, pharmacies, church groups, the Women’s Institute and many other groups throughout Yorkshire.

They have then been delivered to Acomb-based optometrist Ruth Perrott and then, every month, members of the Rotary Club have met to sort, wash, measure, adjust and finally individually bag the labelled specs.

The specs have then been shipped to Vision Overseas HQ in Crawley, where they have been assembled into libraries of specs, profiled demographically for each country. Two cubic metres of specs are typically sorted through every month.

The project was launched in 1991 in support of a first VAO trip to Cameroon by Ruth.

“Since then the project has continued, sending a shipment every month to VAO which represents an excellent example of the direct service work in which Rotary specialises,” said the spokesman.

Good quality spectacle cases and sunglasses have also been donated to St Leonard’s Hospice for sale in its charity shops.

The Rotary Club of York Ainsty is an integral part of Rotary International, the world’s first service organisation, said the spokesman.

“Each member enjoys business as well as social networking opportunities, whilst giving something back to those less fortunate, learning new skills and having a huge amount of fun.”