First-class eyecare was delivered at a free clinic for Plymouth people experiencing homelessness ahead of Christmas.

Professionals from the Specsavers Home Visits team volunteered their time in partnership with Vision Care, a charity providing eyecare services to people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. The team based themselves at the Shekinah Centre on Kings Road, offering free eye tests, glasses and support.

Cheryl Fletcher, Customer Service Director at the Specsavers Plymouth Home Visits team, said: “We were pleased to host our first clinic to offer our services to people experiencing homelessness.

“It was a really successful day and very humbling to be part of it. Our team have been blown away by the experience, and there's already commitment from the team to volunteer their time again in future.”

She added that she hopes the clinic will help raise awareness of homelessness and the barriers people face in accessing healthcare, saying: “The stories we heard during the clinic have particularly struck a chord with all of our team, showing that today has really changed lives.”

Stephen Pratt, Static Clinics Manager at Vision Care, said: “It was great to have staff from the Home Visits team join us to test and dispense, meaning we could run an extended clinic session. The people who came in to see us simply aren’t getting the sort of help that the rest of us are getting.”

He highlighted one visitor who needed a complicated prescription for both distance and reading: “They would’ve struggled without it. The fact that the clinic could provide that help, free of charge, is excellent.”

The clinic was part of Specsavers’ awareness-raising about homelessness, calling for changes to government policy to remove unnecessary barriers that make it difficult for people experiencing homelessness to access the eye and ear care they need.

Long-term plans include influencing policy and systems so that people affected have access to free ear checks, eye tests and glasses, and replacement glasses if broken, lost or stolen.