A Look Back at Our Work
Over the years, BACE delivered a range of projects across education, healthcare, and community infrastructure in The Gambia. This page highlights a selection of that work and the impact it had.
Community Projects
Education, healthcare, infrastructure
The Gambia
Built with local partners
Community-led
Lasting impact
Transformed Lives Through Vision
Our eyewear initiative demonstrated how simple donations had profound impacts on quality of life in rural communities.
3,000+
Glasses were distributed to those in need
Rural Focus
Targeted the most impoverished areas
Life Changing
Restored vision and independence
Started in 2015
Longstanding partnership programme
"As a programme we welcome genuine partners and philanthropists who have an interest in our programme and The Gambia at heart."
Sarjo Kanyi
Programme Manager, National Eye Health Programme
"We have an eye unit here at Benenden Hospital, so we are well aware of how poor vision can affect someone's quality of life. We are very happy to support this charity campaign."
Jane Abbott
Hospital Director, Benenden Hospital
National Eye Health Programme
Established in 1986 by the Gambia Government following a national survey of blindness and eye diseases, this programme provided the infrastructure for our glasses distribution.
Partnership Benefits
- Established distribution network reaching rural areas
- Professional assessment and fitting services
- Government backing ensuring program sustainability
- Focus on those who cannot afford vision care
How the Program Worked
This was a collaborative effort between UK healthcare providers and Gambian national programmes that delivered essential vision care to those who needed it most.
Benenden Hospital
Collection Partner
Collecting and grading donated glasses from staff, patients, and community
Gambian National Eye Health Programme
Distribution Partner
Established in 1986, distributing glasses to rural and impoverished areas
Wilson Wilson & Hancock
Volunteer Support
Joanne Burgess volunteered time to grade and label glasses
Why Vision Care Mattered
"Having worked in The Gambia for many years, trustees and volunteers have found that many people go without glasses because they cannot afford to buy them."
"A pair of reading glasses can be the equivalent to several months' salary for some."
- Tracy Barnett, Chair of BACE
Collection Process
- • Staff and patients donated unwanted spectacles
- • Community members contributed through collection drives
- • Volunteers graded and labeled glasses by prescription
- • Glasses were shipped in containers to The Gambia
Distribution Network
- • Coordinated by the National Eye Health Programme
- • Focused on rural and impoverished areas
- • Distributed directly to those in need
- • Provided follow-up care and support