Private aviation travel company ConnectJets and premier flight support solutions company Flightworx, have thrown their support behind blindness prevention charity Orbis UK, helping raise awareness for its See My Future appeal. For three months, until 23 June, all public donations to the appeal will be doubled by the UK government.
The aviation industry and Orbis have a long-standing connection via the charity’s unique Flying Eye Hospital, a state of-the-art ophthalmic teaching hospital on board a customised MD-10. It is a fully-integrated training facility, with an operating theatre, recovery room, and audio-visual equipment that transmits live surgeries to a 46-seat classroom at the front of the aircraft. Every year, the Flying Eye Hospital partners with hospitals in the countries it visits to deliver specialist training through the charity’s expert medical volunteers.
See My Future aims to raise £850,000 and the UK government will match every pound, up to £2 million, which will help save the sight of thousands of children and adults around the world.
Gabriella Somerville, Connectjets Managing Director, said: “ConnectJets is delighted to support Orbis and the admirable work the charity undertakes,” while Jennette Bentley, Flightworx General Manager, commented: “We are humbled to support this great charity, which enables children with sight loss to have the right to an education. Using the Flying Eye Hospital, they take the operating theatre and training cabin to where it is needed.”
Orbis has been working to prevent avoidable blindness since 1982. In 2017, Orbis UK supported the delivery of more than 273,000 surgeries and optical treatments, and 46,900 training sessions for doctors, nurses, community health workers and others.
Orbis UK is also the official charity partner of the 2020 Farnborough International Airshow. Discover more at www.orbis.org.uk