Free children’s eye tests and hands-on fun as University opens its doors for Children’s Eye Care Week

The University of Huddersfield Optometry Clinic welcomes families over October half term, and is helping to monitor short-sighted children across Huddersfield with free eye growth scans

The University of Huddersfield Optometry Clinic is inviting families to bring their children onto campus for Children’s Eye Care Week, from Monday 26 to Thursday 29 October.

Held over the October half term at the clinic in the Joseph Priestley East Building on the Queensgate campus, the week offers children’s eye tests, which are free on the NHS, alongside games and hands-on activities about the eyes and how we see. It is open to every family in the area.

Local schools are being asked to share details of the week with parents, as many children with a vision problem do not realise anything is wrong. Struggling to see the board, losing concentration or holding books too close can all be signs that a child needs an eye test.

Short-sightedness on the rise

Research led by Ulster University found that short-sightedness (myopia) in UK children has more than doubled in the last 50 years, with nearly one in five teenagers now affected.

Short-sightedness is not just a matter of needing stronger glasses each year. It happens because the eyeball grows too long. The longer the eye grows, the higher the lifetime risk of serious conditions such as retinal detachment, glaucoma and early cataract, and that risk stays with the child into adulthood.

The clinic operates as University Valli Opticians, a partnership between the University and Valli Optometry and Audiology. Since 1 October, every child on a myopia management programme at Valli’s Huddersfield practices (University, Honley, Meltham, Almondbury, Slaithwaite, Netherton and Lockwood) has been offered free scans at the clinic that measure the length of the eye itself.

Dedicated scanning sessions are run by University optometry clinic staff, led by Emma Martindale, Senior University Practitioner, with optometry students taking part as part of their training. The scans are quick and non-contact: nothing touches the eye. Children have a first scan as a starting point and a second six months later to see how much the eye has grown. Measuring eye growth directly is far more sensitive than waiting for a prescription to change, so the optometrist can tell much sooner whether treatment is working.

Nas Hinglotwala, Senior Lecturer in Optometry at the University of Huddersfield and Director of University Valli Opticians, said: “Children rarely complain about their eyesight because they have nothing to compare it with. A routine eye test is the simplest way to pick up a problem early. Children’s Eye Care Week is about welcoming families onto campus, showing children how their eyes work, and giving our optometry students valuable experience caring for young patients.”

Moin Valli, CEO of Valli Optometry and Audiology, said: “Most parents think of short-sightedness as a prescription that creeps up every year. What is really happening is that the eye is growing too long, and that matters for the rest of a child’s life. Working with the University means every child on myopia management at our Huddersfield practices can have that growth measured accurately, free of charge.”

How to book

Children’s Eye Care Week runs from Monday 26 to Thursday 29 October at University of Huddersfield Optometry Clinic, Ground Floor, Joseph Priestley East Building, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1 3DH.

To book, call 01484 471520, email university@valliopticians.co.uk or visit valliopticians.co.uk/childrens-eye-care.

Parents of children already on myopia management with Valli can ask their usual Valli practice about booking the free scans.