Villa Vision provides eye health education workshops to over 2200 children

A project providing eye health education and free vision screening to inner-city children in Birmingham has engaged with more than 2200 children in two years.

Villa Vision, a collaboration between Aston University, the Aston Villa Foundation, and Essilor Vision for Life, has celebrated the end of its second year, having launched in 2020.

The project aims to deliver eye health awareness lessons in schools, along with free vision and colour vision screening. This is followed by a more comprehensive eye test and free glasses for children who require them.

In the past two years, over 2200 children have received the Villa Vision eye health awareness workshop across 30 schools, with almost 1800 children having a vision and colour vision screening check in local primary schools.

Through the project, 280 children – around 16% – were flagged for further investigation.

Around 100 fully comprehensive eye tests have been conducted at schools using the project’s custom-designed mobile unit, the Villa Vision eye care van, and nearly 120 pairs of glasses have been provided to children who need them.

Nikhil Sonpal, Villa Vision project manager and optometrist at Aston Villa Foundation, commented: “The Villa Vision team is extremely proud to have directly reached several thousand local children in supporting their visual health and eye care knowledge through the Foundation’s established network of local primary schools and community organisations.”

The project was designed to meet a lack of knowledge around the importance of eye tests and preventative measures to ensure future good vision.

Research by Aston University that informed the development of the project highlighted the community’s understanding of the importance of eye health, and revealed some of the challenges individuals face when accessing eye care. More about the findings can be read in OT’s interview on the launch of the project.

Leon Davies, professor of optometry and physiological optics in the School of Optometry at Aston University and vice president of the College of Optometrists, said: “The provision of free eye care and raising awareness of the importance of eye health is vital in increasing the long-term prospects of schoolchildren.

“I am looking forward to future developments of the project in 2022,” he continued.

Around 30 optometry students from Aston University have supported the project.