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Helping Everybody
Awarenes
Our aim
Vision Bharat’s main objective is to ‘promote and preserve good health care, for the public benefit, by helping facilitate the treatment of eye conditions and improving the vision of individuals’.
The main focus of our work has been running eye camps in underprivileged rural communities in India, although in 2018 we undertook our first eye camp in Sri-Lanka. Many of the camps have taken place in Rajasthan where a hot and dry climate lead combined with a high level of poverty to a high incidence eye conditions.
Both the management team and volunteers pay their own costs for the entire project including airfares to India and travel and accommodation locally. This ensures that as much of the funds raised as possible are spent on actually providing eye care.
How you can help…
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About Us
Vision Bharat was founded by longtime friends Anju Bhatti and Cookie Oliver who both have a background in nursing, social work and the probation service. They had the inspiration to set up VB after they shadowed a screening camp in the suburbs of Ludhiana, Punjab, India in 2007. Following initial groundwork in 2007, Vision Bharat held its first eye camp at Jodphur, Rajasthan, India in 2008 working with the Hindu society in Reading who had extensive contacts in the area. Over the next few years Vision Bharat held regular eye camps in India and continued to gain experience in the organisation and running of eye camps and related activity.
By 2014 the management team had grown to four, supported by number of volunteers. The organisation now had extensive experience of:
- the preparation needed in setting up a camp, starting up to a year beforehand.
- Working with local communities in India to find premises, organise food and transport and then promoting the camp in the surrounding remote rural villages as well as dealing with the necessary permissions.
- Recruiting local volunteers to assist with the running of the camp
- Establishing contacts and working relationships with eye care hospitals in various parts of India. VB ensures these hospitals have the required level of expertise and operating standards.
- Running an eye camp efficiently, including managing up to 1,200 people who can attend on the day.
Vision Bharat was set up as a registered charity (11588623) in the UK in its own right in September 2014 and is now run by an Executive team of six, supported by over 25 volunteers.
What we are up to
Girija returns to work
Girija has returned to work after her life-changing cataract operation.
Pawan excelling at school
Pawan is excelling at school after his life-changing cataract operation.
Last Year…
Eye camps were set up in the states of Rajasthan and Punjab. 1574 patients visited and were...
We would like to thank everyone who has supported and donated to all our eye camps. Without committed and professional volunteers, we would not have reached our goal.
– Vision Bharat UK