14th May 2026 • The HERALD • Page 27 v INDEPENDENT, LOCAL AND PROUD v Where Do Your Donated Spectacles Go? than 50% of the spectacles processed by Medico France - more than any other national group, including France itself. If you have pairs of old spectacles that you no longer require please consider donating them to Romsey & Waterside Lions via their donation bin in e Herald o ce. No cases please. Lions have been collecting and sorting used spectacles for over 50 years. It began in 1967 when Chichester Lions sent 700 pairs of sorted spectacles to the Missionary Optical Society in Devon for use in their clinics in Kenya and India. Since then, the project has expanded enormously with many Lions Clubs in the UK participating, including Romsey & Waterside Lions. In 1985 Chichester Lions linked up with Medico France and over the next ve years some 100,000 spectacles were sent to Medico France. Once processed they went to places such as Cameroon, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka, India, and Zanzibar. In the past year alone Romsey & Waterside Lions Club has collected several thousand pairs of spectacles. ey are collected from many sources including opticians, GP surgeries, individuals, and also e Herald o ce in Hythe which acts as a collection point in the Waterside area. ey are packed into boxes and delivered to Chichester Lions who sort the good from the unusable, in their specialist workshop. Damaged metal frames are sold for scrap as they cannot be mended. Re-usable spectacles are then sent to Medico France in Le Havre where the necessary equipment is used to clean and grade the spectacle lens ready for use in eye camps, which are o en run by charities, in Africa, India and Eastern Europe. e spectacles collected by UK Lions provide more LEARNING TO BURN With cra hobbies there is always something new to learn and woodcarving is no di erent. Waterside Woodcarvers are fortunate to have Maggie Port among its members. She is not only an award winning carver but is happy to share her extensive knowledge and experience with others. Recently she ran a workshop on burning wood, otherwise known as pyrography. Several members spent the day learning how to create detailed feathers and were very pleased with the results. It won’t be long before members will be showing o their creations at the annual June Trophy Night. With all these new skills, the range and standard of carvings is likely to be high. For more information about this local club, visit: www.watersidewoodcarvers.co.uk or phone Di Smith on: 07413 394689. Pyrography feathers
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