TWO church congregations have been working to collect glasses to help poverty-stricken people across the globe see more clearly.

Chester-le-Street Methodist Church and St Cuthbert's RC Church have collected more than 450 pairs of spectacles to pass on to the charity Vision Aid Overseas.

The charity distributes glasses to help visually-impaired people in developing countries and sends teams of volunteer opticians abroad to fit them.

Charity supporter Margaret Bogie said: "Those old spectacles you may have lying around the house could give the gift of clear sight to someone overseas.

"Any adult working in a craft trade in the developing world will lose their source of income if their sight goes, so the whole family suffers.

"Children cannot read, play games or benefit fully from education without good sight."

Vision Aid Overseas now dispenses up to 25,000 pairs of recycled spectacles in Africa each year - and the demand is growing.

Typically, an outreach team of seven or eight opticians is able to examine between 2,500 and 3,000 patients during a two-week overseas visit.

Anyone wanting to help can drop old glasses in at any opticians in Chester-le-Street, or at the civic centre reception