WEST Somerset dispensing optician Judith Searle is to take her skills to Sierra Leone – a place with a history of civil war and, more recently, an ebola outbreak – for two weeks in February.

And she is appealing for unused spectacles, especially ready readers, to give to people to help them see so they can work and earn a living.

Judith, director of Exmoor Eyecare, which has practices in Minehead and Watchet, will be part of a dedicated team equipped on behalf of Vision Aid Overseas.

Vision Aid Overseas is a registered charity set up over 30 years ago where British optometrists and dispensing opticians take two weeks out of their businesses to establish clinics in Africa.

They test the eyes of local people and dispense second-hand spectacles collected in UK.

Although Sierra Leone is a country rich in diamonds and gold, 70 per cent of the population live in poverty and lack many of the basic health needs people in the UK take for granted.

Judith said that, after her last project in Ethiopia, she saw first-hand how vitally important the work that Vision Aid Oversea undertakes in Africa.

Anyone able to donate spectacles can call in to Exmoor Eyecare in either Minehead or Watchet.