A KEIGHLEY optician will cross continents to train medical professionals with international charity Vision Aid Overseas.

Locum optician Humma Khalid, who works at Specsavers Keighley, will travel to Zambia with the charity in September.

She will help to train medical professionals and tend to the eye health of several hundred people in schools, hospitals and prisons.

She has been supported by Specsavers which collected donations of second-hand glasses from local people at its Airedale Shopping Centre branch.

Humma has set up a fundraising page through Vision Aid Overseas, where she has raised just over half of her target of £2,000 to support her work in Zambia.

She said: “Thanks to the thousands of donations from people here in Keighley and across the country, we our able to provide much-needed help to hundreds of people in Zambia.

“What’s more, by training local nurses and clinical officers, we will leave a legacy of better provision for eye care.

“We often take our vision and eye health for granted, but a simple thing like supplying a pair of glasses can have a huge impact on someone’s life.

Humma that local businesses for donated prizes for the raffle, and Specsavers Keighley for hosting a Safari Style Fun Day.

All the collected glasses are recycled and the money made is used to help provide optical services in developing countries.

Working with Vision Aid Overseas, staff and customers at Specsavers Keighley have donated a record-number of old glasses to the store for donation over the past year.

Keighley store director Raj Gill said: “The campaign this year has been a massive success thanks to our very kind and generous customers bringing in their old glasses. Every single one will make a difference.

"These donations and Vision Aid Overseas can make a difference to people’s lives who need it the most. We are thankful to our customers and the public for supporting Humma, the store and the charity."

VAO has been Specsavers’ international eyecare charity since 2008.

The group has raised over £600,000 for Zambian eye care including an optometry technologists’ training course at the Chainama College of Health Sciences in Lusaka, 10 staffed vision centres across Zambia, and a national eyecare outreach programme.

Visit visionaidoverseas.org/fundraisers/humma-khalid to support Humma by donating through Vision In caps overseas, or donate unwanted glasses to Specsavers Keighley.