WCSM launches new charity

The Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (WCSM) has launched a new charity to coincide with World Sight Day 2020 on 8 October.

The new Spectacle Makers’ Charity combines two previous grant giving trusts – one promoting support for optical education and the other for organisations helping vision impaired people get the most out of life.

The trusts have previously given over £70,000 a year in charitable support, benefiting students of dispensing, optometry and orthoptics, trainee ophthalmologists and charities working across the UK and abroad.

In a statement, the WCSM said that bringing the two elements together would allow the charity to be more efficient and impactful in its giving – and set a clear direction for ongoing support from members of the Company and other donors who have so generously given in the past.

Newly appointed chairman of the Spectacle Makers’ Charity, Liz Shilling, said: “This is a very exciting development. Our new charity looks forward to supporting all aspects of optical education and enhancing the liuves of vision impaired people and their families.

“In this pandemic year, there are extra challenges, both for vision charities and their recipients, and for young people starting their careers in eye health. The Spectacle makers’ Charity will play its part in helping them, as part of our ongoing mission to support better vision for all.”

Grant application forms for use by charities and organisations are already available on the WCSM website. Grants to qualifying organisations are typically worth between £2,000 and £10,000.