SOMETIMES the most meaningful projects begin with just an ordinary conversation.

I’ve been travelling to Sri Lanka since 2013 – the first visit was a family holiday. Like many people, I fell in love with the country – its landscapes, its people, and its strong sense of community. Over the past thirteen years I’ve returned many times (12 at last count), to volunteer with grassroots projects and more laterly trekking across the island, fundraising for grassroots projects and gradually building relationships with local charities, NGOs and communities along the way.

This particular initiative began back home in my home town of Kingston Upon Thames last year, while I was doing something very routine: having my eyes tested.

While being fitted for new glasses at the optition in Kingston, I mentioned to Guy Loveday, the Retail Director, that I was about to head back out to Sri Lanka. On a bit of a whim, I asked whether they ever had any unwanted glasses. To my delight, Guy offered to donate around 300 pairs of prescription spectacles, complete with lenses. That one simple exchange turned into something far bigger than, I suspect, either of us expected.

Seeing First Hand

During my most recent visit last October 2025, I spent time volunteering at an elder home in a remote part of Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands. The home is run for retired tea plantation workers – people who have spent their lives doing incredibly hard physical work under extreme weather conditions – raging sun and monsoon rains, not to mention the leeches! 

What struck me almost immediately was that no one was wearing glasses. Later that afternoon, while playing board games together, I noticed several of the residents squinting, leaning closer to the board, clearly struggling to see. It became obvious that deteriorating eyesight was quietly affecting their daily lives: eye tests or glasses were simply unaffordable luxuries for them.

That was the moment the idea really crystallised.

I spoke with the home’s management about setting up an optical project. Through local connections, we arranged for a mobile optometrist to assess residents’ eyesight and then match the donated glasses to their needs. Around 300 people will benefit directly from this pilot programme, receiving either perfectly matched donated glasses or newly made lenses – all completely free of charge to them.

On 4th, 5th & 6th February 2026, eye assessments took place not only for the elder home residents, but also for members of the surrounding rural community.

Growing Partnerships & Wider Impact

An encouraging outcome of this work has been the response from the tea plantation’s senior management. Kaushal Mathavan, General Manager of Aitken Spence Elpitiya Plantations, has expressed a desire to extend the optical project beyond the elder home to support villagers in the surrounding rural areas. Discussions are now underway to formalise future donations, including exploring shipping glasses directly from the UK to Sri Lanka which will save friends and me couriering them over in our suitcases!  

During this same trip, I was able to distribute over 300 pairs of glasses to the Women’s Development Centre in Kandy, which supports women and girls who have experienced domestic violence. These glasses will benefit not just individuals, but wider communities around Kandy.

Further donations were made to a senior Buddhist monk in Kurunegala, who has since distributed the glasses among the small rural communities he supports.

A Second Life For Something Cast Aside

What continues to move me most is seeing how something so easily overlooked (a pair of unwanted glasses) can dramatically change someone’s daily life. Improved eyesight means greater independence, safer mobility, the ability to read, sew, cook, play games, and connect more fully with the world.

Staying with the elders last year and now seeing them in the photographs being assessed and then choosing their glasses is so uplifting. I know they’re going to really value them.

I love seeing these glasses being given a new lease of life, and to know they are making such a positive difference for people who otherwise would go without. This project has reminded me, once again, that small actions, shared with the right people, can really transform lives.

If you’d like to read more about other community initiatives I’m involved with in Sri Lanka, or find out how you or perhaps a friend might get involved, please follow my Facebook or Instagram posts:

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