Lost glasses on trains a boon to African eye charity

Thousands of pairs of glasses left behind on trains in the UK have been handed over to an international eye care charity to give to Africans.

South West Trains, which runs around 1,600 services a day, has given more than 2,500 unclaimed glasses from its lost property department to Vision Aid Overseas (VAO), a charity providing eye care and glasses in Africa.

They will be environmentally recycled and used to help fund VAO's programmes.

Michael Pugh of South West Trains said: "I am always amazed at the number of glasses that are left behind on our services.

"When I saw that hundreds of pairs were left unclaimed every year, I thought there must be a way of putting them to good use.

"By leaving their glasses behind our passengers are indirectly having a massive impact on improving the lives of many Africans."

SWT unclaimed lost property can be kept for three months before being shared with charities and other causes across the network.

Unclaimed toys were donated to the Naomi House hospice in Winchester, and a haul of unclaimed books went to 27 book exchanges.