SAVE THE DATE! **National Eye Health Week 18 – 24 September 2023**
7 February 2023
The organisers of National Eye Health Week (NEHW) are urging everyone in optics to get behind this year’s awareness campaign (18-24 September 2023) to help spread the word on eye health.
National Eye Health Week is the biggest and most effective independent public eye health campaign in the UK – sharing important eye care advice with tens of millions of people every year.[1] However, there is still work to be done to elevate the campaign to be one of the UK’s premier health events.
David Cartwright, chair of Eye Health UK, the charity responsible for running NEHW comments: “Awareness & public health messaging are key elements of the proposed national eye health strategy for England and are vital for improving the eye health of people across the UK. NEHW provides the ideal platform for the sector to come together to highlight the importance of routine eye tests and adopting healthy lifestyle habits to prevent avoidable sight loss and poor eye health.
David continues: “The more of us who support the campaign, the more efficacious it will be. So, what are you wating for? Let’s work together on this important prevention initiative, because vision matters.”
Five quick and easy ways individuals and organisations can support NEHW 2023.
1. SAVE THE DATE! Put 18 -24 September in your diary and get ready to spread the word on eye health.
2. REGISTER FOR FREE RESOURCES. Send us your name, business name and contact details to to register for a free promotional toolkit
3. FOLLOW & SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Join the conversation on your social channels by following Instagram @NationalEyeHealthWeek Twitter @myvisionmatters & Facebook @NationalEyeHealthWeek
4. BECOME AN OFFICIAL PARTNER. Larger organisations interested in our official partnership programme should contact rachel@visionmatters.org.uk
5. DONATE. The scale, scope and reach of the Week relies on financial backing from the sector and other third parties as no public funds are currently available to support the initiative (although securing public funding is one of the charity’s medium-term ambitions). Making a contribution is easy. Simply click the voluntary levy button on your PCSE Online account and ‘OPT IN’ to the Eyecare Trust voluntary levy scheme. Alternatively, contact rachel@visionmatters.org.uk for details about making a one-off donation. Every penny raised really does make a difference and benefits both the public and the profession.
Plans and the themes for National Eye Health Week 2023 will be unveiled at an official launch in the Spring.
[1] NEHW 2022 reached 30 million+ on social media and generated 600 million ‘opportunities to see’ in traditional & online media.
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