Staff at the Specsavers store in Bath have thanked their customers for helping raise vital funds to support people experiencing homelessness.
The Specsavers store in Bath | Photo © Specsavers
Research has revealed that more than half of people experiencing homelessness have unresolved issues with their vision, with a lack of permanent address often being the barrier to accessing such healthcare.
The store joined fellow Specsavers sites across the country to raise awareness and vital funds for Crisis’ work to end homelessness, through in-store and online donations and staff volunteering.
Specsavers became the first-ever corporate sponsor of the Crisis at Christmas campaign.
Phil Lodge, store director at Specsavers Bath said: “Our purpose is to change lives through better sight, as well as hearing, as we know all too well the impact that uncorrected vision or undetected sight conditions can have on people’s quality of life.
“The fact that so many people experiencing homelessness need glasses but struggle to access eyecare is just something we can’t ignore.
“We are very proud to be supporting Crisis to help support its tremendous and much needed work, in particular the strides the charity is making to improve access to healthcare for people experiencing homelessness.”
Matt Downie, Crisis Chief Executive, said: “Experiencing homelessness has an extremely negative impact on people’s health.
“But sadly, we regularly see many people suffering and finding it difficult to access health services because they fear stigma or are not easily able to register due to not having permanent addresses.
“With rising costs continuing to impact people’s ability to pay bills and rent, we fear that the numbers of people facing homelessness will grow over the difficult months ahead.”
Crisis works with thousands of people experiencing homelessness, providing education, training and support with housing, employment and health. Through its frontline services, the charity helps people find a path out of homelessness for good.
More than 227,000 people across Britain are currently experiencing the worst forms of homelessness, including sleeping on the streets and on public transport or in insecure and temporary accommodation like hostels and B&Bs.
The cost-of-living crisis will see this figure increase further, with many more put at real risk of homelessness as financial pressures intensify.
Specsavers is also supporting the Big Issue Group as part of a broader campaign to break down the barriers that people experiencing poverty and homelessness face in receiving eyecare, as for many, a lack of permanent address prevents them from accessing NHS services.
