A dedicated team of opticians brought clear vision to the lives of 231 individuals experiencing homelessness by providing essential vision care and glasses via a successful pilot delivered across Yorkshire.
Between March 2024 – March 2025, Specsavers partnered with Vision Care for Homeless People (VCHP) to ensure that people affected by homelessness have access to the care they need.
Optometrists from Specsavers’ Bradford and York home visits team - a specialist team of mobile opticians - provided access to much-needed eye care to 271 people across 16 homelessness support centres in York, Scarborough, Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield, Bridlington, and Leeds.
The pop-up clinics focused on maintaining visitors’ eye health and vision, as well as detecting any broader eye issues. Almost 10% of visitors required a referral for further treatment, highlighting the importance of this service.
One of the attendees, Miroslav, received a free eye test at Scarborough’s Rainbow Centre—a charity that offers practical help to anyone in need of food, shelter, clothing, and other essentials.
He says: ‘For the first time in years, I could see clearly again – this meant I could recognise faces, interact with people better, and feel much safer in my surroundings.
‘Receiving this care has changed my life. I would never have considered going to an optician before, so being able to access free eye care at the clinic was invaluable. It made me realise I should prioritise my health more. Being able to see clearly again has made everything feel easier, and my worries have lightened considerably.’
When the team spoke with Miroslav, he told them that his glasses had provided him with the confidence to search for work and read again.
During the pilot scheme, the team surveyed those they were supporting with their vision care and discovered that 13% of people seen had never had an eye test, and for 31%, it had been over 5 years since their last test.
A further 44% felt an eye test isn’t a priority due to their current circumstances, and 56% said they’d lost, broken or even had their glasses stolen.
During the service, anyone requiring relief from common eye conditions received products from The Body Doctor, a Yorkshire-based business, which donated £2,500 worth of treatments.
Hannah Telfer, CEO of VCHP, comments: ‘Our aim is to bring essential eye care to people affected by homelessness. We are taking an innovative approach to delivering care, which has provided more people with vital care in just 10 months compared to our larger, static city clinics, highlighting the importance of this flexible model to the community.
‘Over the past year, we’ve seen just how life-changing this can be. A staggering 85% of the individuals we supported received glasses, providing them not only with clearer vision but also a renewed sense of confidence and safety. Even more striking, 19% were entitled to NHS home visits.
‘Everyone deserves the ability to see the world around them, to feel seen, and to be given the opportunity to move forward in life. Thanks to this partnership, we are slowly breaking down barriers and ensuring that those affected by homelessness are not left behind. We look forward to continuing our work with them across the UK.’
Heather Dalton, Optometry Director of the Bradford 2 Home-Visits team, adds: ‘The past 12 months have been incredibly moving, and it has been a privilege to assist VCHP. We all have the same vision: that everyone deserves access to essential care—especially those in our community who have been pushed into homelessness.
‘As optometrists, our role is to improve lives through better vision. We understand the impact that untreated vision or undetected eye conditions can have on a person’s well-being. Having the opportunity to be part of the solution for people experiencing homelessness across Yorkshire has been inspiring, as we’ve seen people regain their confidence and witnessed the immediate impact something so simple as a pair of glasses can have on a person’s life.’
Specsavers has a long-standing relationship with VCHP, the group’s founder, Dame Mary Perkins, became a patron of the charity in 2014. Specsavers’ partnership with VCHP is helping the charity expand the number of clinics across the UK, improving access to care for everyone. Together, they are also lobbying for changes to be made to GOS contracts or policy to enable better access to care through a model that works for people without a permanent address.