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January 4th, 2023 by Lynette Maisey

40 Year Celebration for Lions Eye Institute

In 2021 the Lions Save-Sight Foundation celebrated our 50th Anniversary.  Last year the Lions Eye Institute’s celebrated its 40th Anniversary.

From humble beginnings of public screenings for glaucoma and amblyopia in a much-travelled caravan our Foundation developed rapidly.  Then following considerable negotiation, LSSF was instrumental in the establishment of the Lions-UWA Chair of Ophthalmology at UWA and in the recruitment of Professor Ian Constable as the Inaugural Chair in 1974. This Chair continued until the end of 2018.

The Foundation grew rapidly under Professor Ian’s direction.  By 1979, the growth of eye programmes were outstripping Lions Club resources and it was resolved to spawn out of LSSF a new and more public orientated organisation and hence the seed was sown for the establishment of The Lions Eye Institute (LEI) in 1983.

In 2022, a new Lions Chair was established, based at the Lions Eye Institute, jointly funded by LSSF and Curtin University. It is known as the Lions Curtin Chair in Ophthalmic Big Data Research with Professor Andrew Turpin as the Inaugural Chair.

The Foundation has continued to support LEI with funding of various research and other projects. Over 40 years, your Foundation has donated over $5.3 million to LEI alone. That is an average of almost $130,000 per year.

Lions Clubs of WA can be proud of stepping up to meet the 1925 challenge of Helen Keller for Lions to become “Knights of The Blind”.

                                                                                               

Research Funding

Summary of 2023

LSSF had a revenue of $348,234 including donations from Lions Clubs of $23,000 and the Foundation provided $316,250 to support various research projects.

Thank you to all who supported us during this year.

Commitments for 2024

2024 will be another big year for LSSF with a total of $287,500 in commitments already made.  They are;

  • Lions Curtin Chair in Ophthalmic Big Data $180,606
  • PDG Brian King Fellowship $  70,000
  • Dr Danial Roshandel $  25,000

The Board of LSSF really does appreciate any donations made from Lions Clubs or the public as they help LSSF to achieve our goal of “Knights of the Blind”.

                                                                                               

Lions Outback Vision Kimberley Hub

The Lions Outback Vision Kimberley Eye Hub in Broome was officially opened on 3 October 2022, in a ceremony that celebrated the immense progress being made in treating eye disease in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions.  Watch the video showing Lions Eye Institute helping those in need in the Kimberley.

The key figure in this area is that the ratio of blindness between Indigenous and the rest of the community now stands at 3 to 1.  When the LSSF first started visiting this area in the late 1970’s the ratio was 12 to 1. A remarkable reduction for our Indigenous inhabitants.

                                                                                               

Lions Save-Sight Foundation’s July 2024 Newsletter

See our latest newsletter here:

July 2024 Newsletter