STAFF from a Weymouth opticians have created a sight to behold with their latest charitable initiative.

Specsavers, which has a branch on St Thomas Street, launched its initiative towards the tail end of 2015 for the eye-care charity Vision Aid Overseas.

Staff encouraged those who used the opticians between October and December last year to donate their old and unwanted glasses to the store.

The staff had set a target of 2,015 glasses they wanted to collect before the end of the year and once the target was achieved, staff made sure they created a spectacle for the shoppers by arranging the glasses into a 2015 shape.

Mark Hayles, store director for Specsavers, praised the members of public who donated their glasses to the campaign.

Mr Hayles said: “We’re so grateful to everyone who has taken the time to bring in their old glasses.

“Vision Aid Overseas does a tremendous amount of work providing support to people who lack access to eyecare services.

“In this country, we can easily access professional eyecare on the high street and it’s something we all take for granted.

“In the developing world it’s a very different story and for that reason it is important we do what we can to improve eye health elsewhere. We couldn’t have hit this huge figure without the help of our community, so a massive thanks to everyone who donated their specs to this great cause.”

Vision Aid Overseas works in some of the most deprived areas of the world, including in Africa, and works to provide better access to eyecare for people who live there.

It hopes to transform the eyecare industry overseas, and is part of the Vision 2020 programme, which was launched to eliminate blindness by 2020.

Since 2003, Specsavers stores have collected and recycled more than a quarter of a million glasses for the charity, and have raised more than £550,000.

This money has helped a number of projects, including solely funding an eyecare clinic in the Zambian capital Lusaka, which was officially opened by Specsavers founder Dame Mary Perkins.