Offers at opticians for eye-health week

It runs from Monday until next Sunday, September 24, and Thompson Opticians, which has branches in Amble, Alnwick and Wooler, will be donating £1 for every sight test to Guide Dogs for the Blind, offering free spectacle repairs to all and free ultrasonic cleaning of glasses to all.

National Eye Health Week aims to raise awareness of the importance of having a regular sight test and inspire people to make healthier lifestyle choices that benefit their eye health. Almost two million people in the UK are living with sight loss.

David Cartwright, chairman of National Eye Health Week, said: “Sight is the sense people fear losing the most, yet many of us don’t know the best way to look after our eyes.

“This is why it is so important you get your eyes checked every two years even if you think your vision is fine as some eye conditions may not show symptoms.”

Visit www.visionmatters.org.uk for more information on National Eye Health Week.

Last week, a new report published by charity Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and high-street opticians Specsavers, which recently opened a branch in Alnwick, warned that one in five people will live with sight loss in their lifetime despite at least half of all cases being avoidable.

The alarming new statistics show that every day 250 people start to lose their sight in the UK.

Women, who tend to live longer, are at greater risk than men, with one in four women set to develop sight loss in their lifetime compared with one in eight men.