Lions World Sight Day Aims to Educate Millions Worldwide
The Ringwood and Fordingbridge Lions Club will be joining in this global event by running their World Sight Day, Education Road Show outside the town halls in the morning (10.00 am to 12.00 noon) in Ringwood and in the afternoon (2.00pm to 4.00pm) in Fordingbridge on Wednesday 14th October 2015.
They will be joined by members of The Ringwood and Fordingbridge Blind Club, a team from The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and members of Sensory Services from Hampshire County Council. Members of the Town Councils and the public will be invited to experience various sight conditions by wearing specially designed glasses.
“It is estimated that 40 million people around the world are blind,” said Lion Geoff Kay, President of the Ringwood and Fordingbridge Lions Club. “On Lions World Sight Day, the Ringwood and Fordingbridge Lions will be working in unison with Lions clubs around the world to educate millions of people on the importance of proper eye health care.”
The Ringwood and Fordingbridge Lions Club meets on the second Thursday of each month at the Elm Tree on Hightown Road Ringwood starting at 8.00pm. Lions clubs are a group of men and women who identify needs within the community and work together to fulfill those needs. For more information or to get involved with the Ringwood and Fordingbridge Lions Club, please contact Lion Stephen Sherring on 0845 8335 819 or via our web site at: www.randflions.org.uk
On a worldwide scale, an estimated 75 percent of all blindness is found in Africa and Asia, according to the World Health Organization. In Africa, there are an estimated 500,000 new cases of cataracts each year, of which only one in ten is operated upon. In India, 80 percent of the blind suffer from cataracts, with more than 3.8 million new cases reported each year
Lions World Sight Day is a global vision initiative sponsored by Lions Clubs International and Lions Clubs International Foundation. The event is held annually on or around the second Thursday of October in an effort to raise awareness about sight-related issues. Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with more than 1.3 million members in approximately 45,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas around the world. Since 1917, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong commitment to community service and serving youth throughout the world. For more information about Lions Clubs International, visit the Web site at www.lionsclubs.org.uk
