Our social responsibility

Impaired vision is the most common disability in the world, yet its impact on society is largely unrecognised. One-third of the global population is prevented from accessing vision care because of where they live, what they believe or what they can afford. Many do not even realise they have an eye condition.

Seeing well improves everything - from being able to read and achieve in school, to employability and personal wellbeing. And that's not all: by enabling people to live life to the best of their capabilities, healthy vision plays a key role in the sustainable development of local communities and economies.

At Vision Direct, our mission is to improve your life by improving your sight, but it doesn’t stop there: we are proud to be part of a global drive to create access to vision care for people everywhere.

The Essilor Vision Foundation has grassroots initiatives in over 40 countries around the world that have helped more than 6 million people to access first-time vision care since 2013. Four million more benefited from these programs in 2017 alone. In 2018, we donated a total of 12,840 sunglasses and 1,700 glasses frames. Plus, we've reduced our carbon footprint thanks to our new warehouse points, which will limit our delivery distances. In 2019, we digitalised delivery notes, saving 12 tones of paper per year. And in 2020, we donated 4,000 monthly supplies of contact lenses to frontline key workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

We want to help see these numbers continue to grow each year, and are constantly looking for ways to be there for people around the world, each other and the planet.

Read more about Essilor's mission to improve lives by improving sight on www.essilor.com. Read more about Essilor's initiatives to serve the 2.5 billion people with uncorrected poor vision on https://www.essilorvisionfoundation.org.

Contact lenses are so small that we tend to forget that they can have an impact on the environment. As they are not widely recycled by local councils, it means that even when you have the intention of recycling contact lenses, it's up to you to find out how. With this in mind, we're providing an easy way for you to recycle your contact lenses and packaging.

All you have to do is put your used contact lenses (including cases, blister packs, foils/wrappings) in a box, print the free Royal Mail label we've provided, stick to the box and post to our address. More information about our recycling scheme can be found here.

Since 2014 we have supported Vision Aid Overseas. During this time we have provided financial support, glasses frames and lenses to 5 regional districts in Southern Ethiopia, fostering community growth. This has resulted in screening for 185,000 people with 15,000 glasses wearers in the area. In 2017 we endeavoured to extend this project for 3 years meaning we'll send 21,000 frames and lenses by 2020.

We carefully measure and evaluate the impacts our business practices have. By engaging with local stakeholders, following sustainable purchasing strategies, embracing ethical business practices and through our unwavering of human rights and dignity, we endeavour to positively contribute to society.