In an effort to provide accessible eye care within the local community, Specsavers Colwyn Bay held an out-of-hours clinic for people experiencing homelessness on last Wednesdat.
 
The locally owned and run store, located at 14 Bay View Shopping Centre, offered free eye tests and glasses after business hours to create a comfortable and quiet environment where those in need could speak to a healthcare professional.
 
As part of a nationwide campaign for World Homeless Day, which took place on 10 October, more than 180 Specsavers stores and Home Visits businesses held out-of-hours or pop-up clinics and invited those affected by any form of homelessness to make use of their services.
 
In partnership with local homelessness charity The Kind Bay Initiative, the clinic held at the Colwyn Bay store offered attendees a free sight test, OCT scan and glasses.
 
This clinic was part of Specsavers’ wider homelessness programme to mark World Homeless Day by continuing to improve access to eye care for people experiencing homelessness or facing other barriers to care – whether financial, residential or not being eligible for NHS support.
 
Andrew Deeley, optician director at Specsavers Colwyn Bay, said: "To mark World Homeless Day, we were pleased to host our first out-of-hours clinic to offer our services to people experiencing homelessness.
 

"I am incredibly proud of the team who helped make this possible. It is our long-term aim to ensure that everyone can access free, appropriate eye and hearing care which ultimately will help improve quality of life.
 
"Specsavers as a business, and as a local team within the Colwyn Bay community, is committed to making healthcare accessible to everyone. I really hope that this helps raise awareness of the issue and the current barriers people are facing. We’ll be holding more clinics very soon."
 
As well as running eye and ear care clinics across stores outside of World Homeless Day, Specsavers also collaborates with Crisis, Vision Care, Big Issue and other homelessness services to create long-term solutions to remove healthcare barriers.

Specsavers is also 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 people affected have access to free ear checks, eye tests and glasses, and replacement glasses if broken, lost or stolen.
 
For more information about Specsavers Colwyn Bay’s next out-of-hours clinic, which will offer free hearing checks in addition to eye tests, you can call the team on 01492 523 810.