Specsavers is off to Zambia with the charity Vision Aid Overseas on Friday 23 September 2011 to finally open a new optical teaching centre and clinic in the capital Lusaka.

It’s been a long time coming as it took us a year to raise the £300,000 required, then some land had to be found and various permissions sought before the build could go ahead.

But now we’re all ready to hand over what will be a tremendous resource for the people of Zambia, allowing them to train as opticians so they rely less on overseas aid.

While we’re there we’ll visit some new outreach eye clinics in the countryside as our next mission is to raise a further £350,000 to open similar clinics all over the country, making routine eyecare accessible for everyone.

Over the next week, I will be telling my story of the trip here. If you’d like to help bring the gift of sight to Zambia, click through to the Vision Aid Overseas website. Or you can make a donation in any of our Specsavers stores.

Dame Mary Perkins, founder of Specsavers