The Aston Villa Foundation’s Villa Vision initiative won the award for Best Corporate Social Responsibility Project last week at the 2022 Football Business Awards.
Villa Vision is a project started by the Villa Foundation in December 2019 in an effort to deliver eye health and awareness sessions to schools in inner-city Birmingham.
The programme is supported by Aston University through funding and Optometry students who volunteer in schools, and it’s also supported by Essilor and their Vision for Life.
Essilor have equipped the Villa Vision van with the latest technology in eye screening and testing. The technology used in the Villa Vision van allows the Foundation to provide eye screening and eye tests, with free glasses dispensed to those children who need them.
With funding provided by the Premier League and the Professional Footballers Association, the project has been a major success, with over 2,100 children engaged through our interactive workshop, and over 1,800 children having received a vision and colour vision screening test since September 2021.
Data shows that 80% of learning is done with our eyes, but children from lower income families are statistically less likely to get their eyes tested. More than 25 primary schools have received the full Villa Vision programme so far, with around 75 children having received a fully comprehensive eye test by Villa Vision.
Over 100 pairs of glasses have been prescribed and dispensed for those children requiring them, while 15 priority wards within Birmingham are covered through Villa Vision.
“We are delighted to have won the Best Corporate Social Responsibility Project at the Football Business Awards,” said Head of Foundation Guy Rippon.
“The Villa Vision project is a fantastic scheme where we tried to do something different. Villa Vision really tackles a local need and gives children the tools they need to learn effectively in the classroom, which in turn helps them with their long-term prospects.
“The project wouldn’t work without our partners Aston University and Essilor Vision for Life, and we are very grateful for their ongoing support, as well as that of the PFA and Premier League in funding the scheme.”
After winning the honour, judges from the Football Business Awards spoke highly of the Villa Vision project.
“The judges at the awards thought this was a very innovative and unique project, and they liked the collaboration between partners – none of whom could have done this alone. The scheme operates in a particularly challenging area in terms of the poverty on the club’s doorstep. A brilliant initiative.”
Congratulations to everyone involved!
