In a rare example of corporate compassion not involving a seasonal ad campaign and a lonely snowman, Specsavers Rochdale is marking World Homeless Day with free eye and hearing checks for people experiencing homelessness, proving that, occasionally, businesses can still see straight.
On Tuesday, 14 October, five Specsavers staff will host an out-of-hours clinic at their Yorkshire Street store. The timing, 4.30pm to 6pm, was specifically chosen to provide a quieter environment, presumably free of screaming toddlers and pensioners arguing over bifocals.
Attendees will receive full eye tests, fancy OCT scans (which sound like something from NASA but are mostly just very good at spotting dodgy retinas), free glasses, and hearing checks, plus wax removal for those whose ears have spent years doubling as storage.
The initiative is part of Specsavers’ wider homelessness programme, which exists because, shockingly, being without a home also makes basic healthcare something of an uphill slog. According to the company, one in three people experiencing homelessness needs glasses, which, when you’re trying to navigate paperwork, buses, and suspicious glares from Greggs staff, is a bit of a problem.
Sarah Culshaw, the store’s dispensing optician and reluctant beacon of hope in an otherwise crumbling system, said the aim is to “improve quality of life” by removing the bureaucratic chaos that normally blocks access to eye and hearing care.
In addition to clinics, Specsavers is working with Crisis, Big Issue, and others in the “charity trench warfare” sector to tackle long-term healthcare inequality, and is now calling on the government to stop making it quite so bloody hard for someone with no fixed address to get glasses.
From down the M62, we applaud this rare pairing of capitalism and conscience. Because in a country where missing a GP appointment is easier than getting one, it’s good to see at least one shop trying to help people actually see.
