A LOCAL opticians and associated home visiting team provided free eye care to attendees of one of RBKares Wellbeing Days at Queen Mary Hall earlier this month.
The Kingston Specsavers store joined forces with Specsavers’ north London home visiting service to set up an eye care clinic at the weekly support event, which was held at Queen Mary Hall, Cambridge Gardens, Norbiton, on Tuesday 2 May.
Staged by the local charity RBKares and also attended weekly by the Tuesday Group Foodbank, this particular Wellbeing Day attracted more than 150 people with 20 taking up free eye tests and 19 being prescribed with glasses.
Preetam Meghani, Specsavers optometrist and director of the northeast and northwest London home visiting service, said: ‘The team were delighted to support this initiative. It was an incredible and fulfilling experience. It was also surprising how many people have not undergone an eye test and are unaware of their poor vision until they try on glasses and realise how much better they can see.’
Awarded charity status in January 2022, RBKares was borne out of support from locally based volunteers who assisted in the provision of various wellbeing services to local care home staff and residents, and staff at Kingston Hospital in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
RBKares was founded by Dr Kate Kenyon, who set up a local group during 2020, supplying Kingston Hospital, key workers and care homes with scrubs, face-coverings and scrub-bags via Sewing4Kingson. During this time, strong relationships were forged, as the volunteers witnessed the extreme conditions these workers were operating in.
Dr Kenyon said: ‘RBKares was created in response to what we saw care homes going through in the pandemic, so started with ‘Christmas Kindness for Care Homes’ to deliver gifts across the Borough in 2020. We became more well known within the local community, becoming involved in a host of different projects, which have continued to grow.’
Specsavers attended the wellbeing day with the mobile testing equipment it uses to carry out eye tests in people’s homes, a service offered to the housebound.
Dr Kenyon continued: ‘We were thrilled to have the support of Specsavers who provided free eye tests to those people living locally, and who are unable, for many reasons, to access eye care. Everyone was so grateful to the testing service provided and to Specsavers Kingston who supplied the free prescription glasses to those that needed them.
Mr Meghani added: ‘Having a regular eye test is really important, as it can reveal underlying health issues. Indeed, one patient we saw has already been referred to their GP with potential undiagnosed glaucoma.
‘So, we are pleased that we were able to assist in providing this service and contribute to the health and wellbeing of the people who attended our clinic.’
Specsavers Kingston upon Thames retail director Guy Loveday added: ‘Eye care should be available to everyone. We were delighted to support RBKares and offer our services to those people in need within the Kingston Borough. I am sure having the correct glasses prescription will enhance their daily lives.’
The response to the eye care clinic was very positively received by those who attended, with the organisers receiving text messages of thanks and gratitude. A number of people had never had an eye test before, while others commented that they had never been able to see properly until today.
A member of the RBKares team received feedback from an attendee who said; ‘I’m in shock, I can’t believe it, I’m so lucky! The last time I had my eyes tested was in 2017, when I had some money. It’s been on my mind for a while – so today, I feel so lucky to have had them tested and to know I’ll get new lenses for my glasses a week on Tuesday.’
Specsavers recommend that adults have an eye test at least every two years, children should visit every year. The NHS will cover the full cost of an eye test for anyone who qualifies. All children under 16, as well as those under 19 in full-time education, are entitled to an NHS funded eye test.
