Blog

That’s the first parcel on its way.

Back in February we started on a journey with Public Health Wales to try and make the practice more environmentally friendly with there Greener Primary Care Award.

As part of this work we have started collecting old glasses for Lions International. You can read more about there work here.

Well in just 4 weeks we have collected 26 pairs of glasses. Not a huge number, but 26 less pairs of glasses in landfill and given a new life.

As we visit our patients we let them know we are collecting old glasses and if they have any they wish to recycle to have them ready for our next visit. So over the next few weeks we hope to be able to send even more.

Quick break before training

Beautiful sunny day today and some great patients have made for a lovely day in Cwmbran today. Now time for a well earned coffee for our Optician Russell before he attends a training session tonight to refresh his skills and knowledge. All Optician’s, like many other healthcare professionals must do this sort of training each year to maintain their professional registration and qualifications.

PD a large cup of coffee on a table with a chair in the background.

Who needs staples?

A picture of a staple less stapler. A white device that looks a bit like a stapler on a purple faux leather background

Another small change for us in 2025 is the removal of staples from our patient report forms.

After we visit a patient we print a note of the aids we have prescribed and any advice we give.

The pages are then stapled together.

Although small, we have replaced our stapler with a new staple free stapler.

A traditional stapler pushes a metal staple through the paper and bending the edges of it to secure the page

The corner of a sheet of paper on a purple faux leather background. The page has the South Wales Low Vision clinic logo on it and a small hole in the visible corner where a staple free stapler was used to secure the page to one behind it.

Our new staple free stapler cuts a small tab in the page and feeds it through a small silt it also makes and secures the pages together.

This remove the need for the metal staple and makes the full report 100% recyclable at home when it is no longer needed.

A new life for old glasses

2025 has seen a large change for us and our business as we move to a more sustainable and greener operation.

We are pleased to be able to offer a glasses recycling service, for all there old, unused glasses.

When we visit, if a patient has any old specs they are not using, we will be happy to take them with us to add to our next parcel of glasses going to Lions International, Recycle for Sight.

The Lions Club then sort the glasses and match them to people in some of the poorest countries in the world. If the glasses are not suitable for use, they sell the materials for scrap and use the money to help fund there work. For more information please visit there website

Its the little things

As part of our commitment to sustainability and our environment we remove all packaging from the magnifiers, lamps and low vision aids we prescribe and recycle all the cardboard and soft plastic. This is especially helpful to some of the most vulnerable people we see as its one less thing for them to have to do after our visit.

The cardboard gets collected every fortnight for recycling here in the UK, and the soft plastics get dropped off at our local collection point each week.

What is a stand magnifier?

A stand magnifier is a magnifier that is designed to stand on the page being read, and not held up in the air.

Around the lens there will be some sort of casing that will keep the lens at the optimum focus point from the page.  To get the best out of one of these low vision aids, you should ware your reading glasses.

These magnifiers, often have their own light built in to give good lighting on the page.  This is to improve vision and make up for the shade the casing around the lens gives.

These magnifiers, often have their own light built in to give good lighting on the page.  This is to improve vision and make up for the shade the casing around the lens gives.

These magnifiers can be used flat on a table or if needed the reading material can be raised on a reading stand.  Alternatively, if you want to use one of these magnifiers sat on the sofa or in an armchair, then a clipboard could be used to keep the page you are reading flat and still.

These magnifiers are available in a range of strengths. As a general rule, the stronger they are the smaller the lens gets, the closer to the page the lens is and the closer to the lens your eyes are.

Here at South Wales Low Vision Clinic, we predominantly use Schweizer stand magnifiers.  These have a single handle that their range of lenses all fit to.  The handle houses three AA batteries and a single LED to light the page.  We have a video on our YouTube channel showing how to change the batteries when this is needed.

Coming Soon!

We are busy working on content for our new TikTok and YouTube channel. We will be detailing some of the aids we can prescribe, talking abut some of eye conditions we come across on daily basis as well as shining a spot light on some of the other services we put our patients in touch with for help and support.

    7 Years ago

    7 years ago I was given the honour of receiving the Macular Society, Optician of the Year award. 7 years on its still one of my proudest moments of my career and has pride of place in my office.

    A lots changed since then, not least of these was me opening my own practice, South Wales Low Vision Clinic.

    Image shows the plaque awarded to Russell in 2017

    Sunny Day in Blackwood

    Another lovely September’s day here in South Wales. Made even better by being out in sun helping our patients make the most of their vision.

    Picture shows a fence in the foreground with a green field and Welsh hills in the distance

    Macular Week 2024

    Nearly 1.5m people in the UK have macular disease. It affects people of all ages. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common condition, generally affecting people over the age of 55. AMD is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK, affecting more than 700,000 people.

    A group of rare inherited conditions called macular dystrophies can affect much younger people. Some of these rare conditions can appear in childhood, although some are not diagnosed until later in life.

    Picture shows a close up photo of a human eye and the eye lids and lashes

    #MacularDegeneration #AMD #SightLoss #MacularWeek #LowVision