**A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 2 5**
**Restoring Vision. Strengthening Systems. Changing Lives.** For the Year Ended 31 August 2025 Scotland | Pakistan | Scottish Charity No. SC051191
## **Contents**
## **01** Message from our Trustees
- **02** About Sight Relief **03** Our Mission, Values & SDG Alignment
- **04** Our Four-Phase Model
- **05** Our Work in Numbers — 2024–25
- **06** Activities During the Year
- **07** Our Beneficiaries
- **08** Key Partnerships
- **09** Governance & Structure
- **10** Financial Statements
- **11** Plans for Future Periods
- **12** OSCR Independent Examiner
**0 1 — M E S S A G E F R O M O U R T R U S T E E S**
## **A Year of Transformation**
The year ended 31 August 2025 was the most significant in Sight Relief's four-year history, not because of the numbers, but because of what they represent: a shift from outreach to lasting system change.
_"We began as a team who drove into the mountains with spectacles and a mission. This year we embedded eye care into government health facilities, trained 200 local health workers, and partnered with Dr Andrew Blaikie from University of St Andrews. The mountains haven't changed, but what happens inside those valleys has."_
Our Winter Rendezvous fundraising event raised over £13,000 in a single month, a reflection of the extraordinary generosity of the Scottish community whose support makes everything possible. We received our first institutional grant from the Ulverscroft Foundation. We delivered our third consecutive surgical eye camp in the remote valleys of the Hindu Kush Mountain range of Pakistan. And we launched the Haripur Primary Eye Care Integration Pilot, a WHO-aligned model that we believe can become the blueprint for district-level eye care across Pakistan.
None of this happens without our donors, volunteers, and partners. Thank you for believing in this mission.
**Isma Tahir Khan, Saddaqat Khan & Ali Askar Khan — Trustees, Sight Relief**
**0 2 — A B O U T S I G H T R E L I E F**
## **Who We Are**
## **A charity built on a simple belief: nobody should be blind from a curable condition.**
Sight Relief is a Scottish charity providing sightsaving eye care to underprivileged communities, with a focus in developing countries. We are registered with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) as charity SC051191.
We were founded by a Scottish-Pakistani optometrist and professionals who witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of preventable blindness in remote communities and chose to do something about it.
26 million people in Pakistan are either blind or have impaired vision. Approximately 3 million of those are children. The vast majority of cases are curable or preventable.
We carry out eye screening camps in rural areas, dispensing spectacles, facilitating cataract surgery, and building the sustainable local capacity needed for long-term change.
**0 3 — O U R M I S S I O N , V A L U E S & S D G A L I G N M E N T**
## **What Drives Us**
_"To provide sight saving eye care to the under-privileged, by building capacity to allow them to self-sustain and provide ongoing eyecare to their people, with a focus in developing countries."_
## **Our Three Core Values**
## **�**
## **Dedication**
We are driven by a genuine commitment to our mission to help eliminate curable and preventable blindness. This commitment goes beyond eye camps — it is about transforming health systems for generations.
## �
## **Quality**
We continuously pursue the highest standards in our eye camps with professionalism and honesty. Every patient receives clinical-grade assessment regardless of ability to pay.
## **�**
## **Transparency**
We strive to provide complete financial transparency on the social and humanitarian benefits to our donors and supporters. Every pound raised is accountable.
## **Sustainable Development Goals — Our Alignment**
Sight Relief is dedicated to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a particular focus on two goals that sit at the heart of our work:
## **SDG 3**
## **Good Health & Well-being**
## **SDG 11**
## **Sustainable Cities & Communities**
We advance universal eye health by providing We build lasting infrastructure for eye care in free clinical care, training frontline health underserved communities — from training Lady workers, and integrating eye care into Health Workers to establishing permanent government primary health systems. Our pilot in referral pathways — ensuring that communities Haripur directly supports SDG Target 3.8: have self-sustaining access to care. We support achieving universal health coverage, including SDG Target 11.1: by 2030, ensure access for all financial risk protection and access to quality to adequate, safe and affordable services. We essential health services for all. build resilient communities through health system strengthening.
Beyond these two primary SDGs, our work contributes to SDG 1 (No Poverty — by restoring the sight of working-age adults and enabling economic participation), SDG 4 (Quality Education — by correcting vision in children who would otherwise struggle to learn), SDG 5 (Gender Equality — through our focus on reaching women and girls, who make up approximately 68% of attendees at some facilities), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals — through our academic and government partnerships).
**0 4 — O U R A P P R O A C H**
## **The Four-Phase Model**
Sight Relief follows a structured four-phase approach designed to move communities from emergency outreach to permanent, self-sustaining eye care infrastructure. In 2024–25, we were operating across all four phases simultaneously.
|||•
Vision assessments using Snellen charts,
ophthalmoscopy, and refraction
•
Distribution of corrective glasses, ready readers, and
pharmaceutical eye drops
•
Identification and referral of cataract patients for sight-
restoring surgery
•
Community education and eye health awareness raising|
|---|---|---|
|**1**
Phase|**Eye Screening**
**Camps**||
||||
|||•
Identification of local volunteers and community health
workers
•
Training in eye screening, patient registration, and traffic
management
•
Building coordinator networks for future camp logistics
and communications
•
Lady Health Worker referral pathway development|
|**2**
Phase|**Local Capacity**
**Building**||
||||
|||•
Formal training for Lady Health Workers and Medical
Officers using Arclight devices
•
WHO-aligned standardised referral protocols embedded
in existing government systems
•
Technology integration: Arclight ophthalmoscopes,
vision testing kits, referral pads
•
Formal partnerships with District Health Offices and
academic institutions|
|**3**
Phase|**Formal Training**
**& Partnerships**||
||||
|||•
Community needs assessment and facility site selection
with local government
•
Rural outreach clinics with vision screening, spectacles,
and telemedicine
•
Local workforce development and long-term training of
healthcare professionals
•
Monitoring, evaluation, and data collection for academic
publication|
|**4**
Phase|**Permanent Eye**
**Care Facility**||
||||
In 2024–25, Sight Relief was delivering Phase 1 eye camps across Pakistan, conducting Phase 2 and 3 capacity building through the Haripur pilot with the District Health Office, and advancing Phase 4 planning through partnership with the district health officer for a permanent surgical facility within the current health system.
**0 5 — O U R W O R K I N N U M B E R S**
## **2024–25 at a Glance**
## **�**
## **Eye Camps Delivered**
Multiple eye camps in Haripur district and remote mountain regions during the year, reaching communities with no access to affordable eye care. Every patient seen, every pair of glasses dispensed — entirely free of charge.
## **�**
## **Haripur Pilot Launched**
The primary eye care integration pilot launched in April 2025, covering 7 government facilities in Phase 1. Over 2,000 patients screened in the first two months and 1,000+ spectacles dispensed.
## **�**
## **200+ Workers Trained**
Lady Health Workers, Medical Officers, and optometrists trained in WHOaligned Arclight-supported primary eye care across Haripur district, building skills that remain in communities permanently.
**Our Impact at a Glance** _Cumulative Reach and Impact_
**500+ 20,000+ 15,000+** Cataract Patients Screened Spectacles Dispensed Surgeries
**200+ 7+** Health Workers Gov. Facilities Trained Reached
**0 6 — A C T I V I T I E S D U R I N G T H E Y E A R**
## **What We Did in 2024–25**
## **Eye Camps — Rehana & Ghazi (May 2025) A child receives their first pair of glasses**
Eye camps were conducted in Rehana and Ghazi in May 2025. Full clinical teams delivered comprehensive vision testing, free spectacles, and medical treatment to hundreds of patients in Haripur district.
19 cataract surgeries were funded at the Rehana camp, and a further 20 at the Ghazi site all performed at partner surgical facilities in Haripur district.
Patients were pre-identified through community outreach by Lady Health Workers, ensuring that elderly women, children, and the most marginalised patients were prioritised.
## **Dr Andrew Blaikie & Arclight Training (April 2025)**
In April 2025, Dr Andrew Blaikie — one of the world's leading experts in global eye health and the co-creator of the Arclight ophthalmoscope — travelled to Pakistan to visit our team.
He trained our optometrists and Medical Officers in person, advised on the clinical design of the pilot, and met with government health officials. His visit gave our work international academic credibility.
This partnership with the University of St Andrews is not just about training. It opens the door to peer-reviewed publication of our findings — meaning the Haripur model could be adopted across Pakistan and beyond.
"To see what the Sight Relief team has built in such a short time is remarkable. The model is sound, the partnerships are real, and the impact is measurable." — Dr Andrew Blaikie (University of St Andrews) during his visit to Pakistan.
## **Haripur Primary Eye Care Integration Pilot**
_Arclight-supported eye examination at a government facility, Haripur district. © Sight Relief 2025_
## **Training session for Medical Officers and Lady Health Workers, Haripur**
The most significant development of 2024–25 was the launch of the Haripur Primary Eye Care Integration Pilot, in formal partnership with the District Health Office (DHO) Haripur and the University of St Andrews.
The WHO-aligned model trains Lady Health Workers to identify and refer patients; Medical Officers to conduct Arclight-supported eye assessments; and Sight Relief optometrists to attend each facility regularly for clinical management and cataract identification.
Phase 1 covered 7 government facilities; Phase 2 expanded to 7 further sites. In the first two months alone, over 2,000 patients were screened and 1,000+ spectacles dispensed.
## **�**
## **7 Phase 1 Facilities**
TDH Sarai Niamat Khan, TDH Ghazi, RHC KTS, BHU Mung, TDH Khanpur, RHC Khangra, and BHU Amazai — all fully operational within the first two months of launch.
## **�**
## **68% Female Attendance**
At BHU Amazai, approximately 68% of attendees were women — demonstrating that the LHW community referral model is successfully reaching the most marginalised group.
## **�**
## **Surgical Pathway Established**
100 cataract patients identified and entered into the surgical referral pathway to the partner hub at RHC KTS within the first two months of the pilot.
_Cataract surgery at Booni Upper Chitral Rural Health Unit. Each surgery takes approximately 20minutes and is life changing for the patient. © Sight Relief 2025._
**Remote Mountain Eye Camp (June–July 2025)**
_The Hindu Kush mountain range — the landscape Sight Relief crosses to reach communities with no access to eye care. © Sight Relief 2025_
Our third consecutive surgical eye camp took place in late June and early July 2025. A clinical team of over twelve people, including optometrists, dispensing opticians, a visiting surgeon, and support staff, was deployed to isolated mountain villages accessible only by jeep on unpaved mountain tracks.
For one week, the team became the only eye care available to communities of tens of thousands. Over 2500 patients were screened, 1200 spectacles dispensed and 68 cataract surgeries performed in a rural health facility. Everything was provided entirely free of charge: cataract surgeries, spectacles, eye drops, and comprehensive clinical assessments. Accommodation, transport, pharmaceuticals, and clinical consumables were all funded from donations raised in Scotland.
## **Fundraising & Community Engagement**
The 2024–25 year saw some of the most generous moments in Sight Relief's history. Here is a snapshot of what our community gave:
**£13,000+ Fundraiser**
Our Winter Rendezvous event — auction, pledges, ticket sales, and donations — raised over £13,000 in a single month. Our highest ever. The Scottish community showed up in the most extraordinary way.
**£3,000 Ulverscroft Grant**
In August 2025 we received our first institutional grant — from the Ulverscroft Foundation. A huge milestone. It means the wider charitable world is recognising what you have known all along.
**£500**
**Rotary Club Donation**
The Rotary Club of St Andrews donated £500 in February 2025 — a sign of our growing connections with Scottish civic institutions.
Throughout the year, regular income was received via payroll giving (Toucan Giving / Charities Trust), individual standing orders, and generous one-off donations from individuals across Scotland and beyond.
**0 7 — O U R B E N E F I C I A R I E S**
## **Who We Serve**
Sight Relief prioritises the people who face the greatest barriers to eye care — those for whom geography, poverty, gender, and age have placed care completely out of reach.
## **�**
## **�**
**�**
**Women & Girls Children Elderly Individuals** In communities where Uncorrected vision Cataract is the world's cultural norms restrict female impairment devastates a leading cause of blindness mobility, our Lady Health child's capacity to learn. A and disproportionately Worker referral model child receiving their first pair affects older adults. A 20ensures women can access of glasses is among the most minute surgery can restore care they would never powerful — and affordable — sight lost for years, giving otherwise reach. 68% female interventions we can make. people back their attendance at some facilities independence and ability to proves this is working. work.
26 million people in Pakistan are either blind or have impaired vision. Approximately 3 million of those are children. Our beneficiaries live in some of the most remote communities on earth — in mountain valleys accessible only by jeep, hours from the nearest town. Most have never seen an optometrist. Many have lived with correctable vision impairment for years.
**0 8 — K E Y P A R T N E R S H I P S**
## **Who We Work With**
No charity achieves lasting impact alone. Sight Relief's partnerships span government, academia, civic organisations, and the voluntary sector.
|||
|---|---|
|**District Health Office (DHO) Haripur**
Formal government partnership for the primary
eye care integration pilot. DHO provides facility
access, LHW coordination, and institutional
endorsement — the critical element that makes
the pilot sustainable.|**University of St Andrews — Arclight**
**Project**
Academic and clinical collaboration with Dr
Andrew Blaikie. Includes Arclight device
procurement, field training, clinical supervision,
and pathway to peer-reviewed publication of
pilot findings.|
|||
|||
|**Ulverscroft Foundation**
Institutional grant funder. First grant of £3,000
received August 2025, marking Sight Relief's
entry into the institutional funding landscape.|**Toucan Giving / Charities Trust**
Payroll giving and institutional fundraising
platform through which regular donor income is
received. Key channel for Scottish employer
payroll giving schemes.|
|||
|||
|**Sehberg Trust**
Community collaboration for women and
children's eye care|**Rotary Club St Andrews**
UK civic fundraising. Rotary Club St Andrews
donated £500 in February 2025.|
|||
**09 — Governance & Structure** How Sight Relief is governed
## **Governing Document**
Sight Relief operates as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), registered with OSCR as charity SC051191 on 11 August 2021. The charity is governed by its constitution (deed of trust). No changes were made to the governing document during the year ended 31 August 2025.
## **Board of Trustees**
## **Isma Tahir Khan — Lead Trustee & Clinical Director**
Qualified independent prescribing optometrist registered with the College of Optometrists. Responsible for clinical programme delivery, Pakistan team coordination, and day-to-day administration. Serves voluntarily.
**Ali Askar Khan — Operations & Community Trustee**
Deep knowledge of target communities in rural Pakistan. Responsible for logistics, local government partnerships, and fundraising support. Serves voluntarily.
## **Saddaqat Khan — Finance & Management Trustee**
Experienced financial and management consultant. Responsible for financial governance, accounting oversight, and institutional relationships. Serves voluntarily.
## **Meeting Structure**
Full board meets monthly with formal minutes recorded. Sub-committee meets weekly on operational matters. All significant expenditure requires full board approval. No trustee receives remuneration.
## **OSCR Compliance — New 2025 Requirements**
All trustees confirmed they are not subject to automatic disqualification under the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 (in force 31 August 2025). Trustee personal information submitted to OSCR Online in accordance with requirements effective 30 June 2025.
## **Financial Controls & Overseas Transfers**
All funds are held in the charity's Bank of Scotland account. All overseas transfers are made exclusively through regulated banking. A documented money trail log is maintained for every transfer. Financial records are reviewed monthly by the board and annually by the independent examiner. No informal mechanisms are used at any stage.
**10 — Financial Statements**
For the Year Ended 31 August 2025
Prepared on a receipts and payments basis in accordance with the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Independently examined by Omar Nabi FCCA, Ahmad & Nabi McMullan Accountants, Glasgow.
||**2024–25 £**|**2023–24 £**|
|---|---|---|
||||
|**INCOMING RESOURCES**|||
||||
|Donations and fundraising|28,865|34,618|
||||
|**Total Incoming Resources**|**28,865**|**34,618**|
||||
||||
||||
|**RESOURCES EXPENDED**|||
||||
|Eye care programme delivery — Pakistan|19,455|8,507|
||||
|Arclight devices & clinical training|2,806|—|
||||
|Logistics and operational costs|1,545|—|
||||
||||
|Website, IT & communications|580|150|
||||
|Fundraising and events costs|198|3|
||||
|Donor management platform|119|—|
||||
|Equipment, memberships & miscellaneous|375|1,389|
||||
|**Total Resources Expended**|**25,078**|**10,049**|
||||
||||
||||
|**NET SURPLUS FOR THE YEAR**|**3,787**|**24,569**|
||||
|Funds brought forward at start of year|38,985|14,416|
||||
|**FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD — CASH AT**
**BANK**|**42,748**|**38,985**|
_Notes: Eye care programme delivery covers all Pakistan expenditure — cataract surgeries, pharmaceuticals, spectacles, staff costs, camp logistics, pilot coordination, and training materials. All funds transferred via regulated banking. Closing balance £42,748 verified against Bank of Scotland statement 31 August 2025._
Sight Relief (SCIO) | Scottish Charity No. SC051191 | info@sight-relief.org | www.sight-relief.org | Bank of Scotland 80-2260 / 24819568
## **Statement of Balances as at 31 August 2025**
||**2025 £**|**2024 £**|
|---|---|---|
|Bank and cash — opening balance (per bank
statement)|38,985|14,416|
|Surplus for the year|3,787|24,569|
|**CLOSING BALANCE**|**42,748**|**38,985**|
|Represented by: Cash at Bank of Scotland (verified)|42,748|38,985|
## **Accounting Policies**
The accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis in accordance with the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006.
- Incoming resources are recognised when received into the Bank of Scotland charity account.
- • Resources expended are recognised when paid from the charity account.
- The charity maintains a single unrestricted fund. No restricted funds existed during the year.
- Amounts transferred to Pakistan in PKR are recorded at the GBP amount leaving the charity bank account. Where payments were made in PKR from a Pakistan account pre-funded by the charity, the GBP equivalent at the transfer rate recorded in the money trail log is used.
- The accounts are prepared on a going concern basis.
Sight Relief (SCIO) | Scottish Charity No. SC051191 | info@sight-relief.org | www.sight-relief.org | Bank of Scotland 80-2260 / 24819568
**1 1 — P L A N S F O R F U T U R E P E R I O D S**
## **Looking Ahead to 2025–26**
Building on the strongest year in our history, we enter 2025–26 with ambitious plans that reflect our growing capacity, deepening partnerships, and confidence in the model we have developed.
**� � � Mountain Eye Camp Haripur Pilot Scale-Up Permanent Operating 2026 Theatre** Expanding the primary eye Our fourth consecutive camp care pilot to additional 7 Establishing a dedicated in remote Pakistan (June facilities, deepening Medical cataract operating theatre 2026), targeting 1,500–2,000 Officer integration, and within the government health patients, 100–150 cataract progressing towards districtsystem, in partnership with surgeries, and 1,000–1,500 wide coverage. Research the District Health Office spectacles. Locations: Kosht, into an Academic publication. making surgery permanently Terich, and Torkhow valleys. available locally.
- Develop a District Mobile Vision Access Programme for continuous screening between annual camp cycles.
- Expand the UK volunteer programme to enable Scottish clinical professionals to participate in eye camps.
- Seek further institutional funding from foundations and grant-making bodies to scale the Haripur model to other districts.
- Continue SIDA membership and engagement with the Scottish international development sector.
- Publish academic findings from the Haripur pilot in collaboration with a UK academic institute.
**1 2 — O S C R I N D E P E N D E N T E X A M I N E R R E P O R T**
## **Independent Examiner's Report — To the Trustees of Sight Relief**
I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 August 2025.
**Respective Responsibilities:** The trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1)(d) does not apply.
**Basis of Statement:** My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, including review of accounting records and comparison of accounts with those records.
**Examiner's Statement:** In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that accounting records have not been kept in accordance with the 2005 Act, or to which attention should be drawn to enable proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
## **Omar Nabi FCCA**
Ahmad & Nabi McMullan Accountants, Glasgow Date: 6[th] of May 2026
Independent Examlner's Report To the Trustees of Sight Relief
I report on the accounts of the charity for the year endéd 31 August 2025.
Respectlve Re$ponslbllltles: The trustees are responsible for the prèparation of the accounts
under the Chgriiies and Trusteè Investment (Scotlandl Act 2005 and thè Charities Accounts
(Scotland) Regulations 2008. The truslees conslder that the audlt requlrement of Regulallon
10(1)(d) does not apply.
8asl8 of 8tatem•nt: My examination Is carried out Sn accordance wtth R8gulalk)n 11 of the
Charities Accounts {Scotlandl RegulatnS 2006, includin9 revlew of accounting records and
comparlson of accounts with those records.
Examln•ff• Stat•mont: In the ¢ourse of my examlnatlon, no matter has come to my attenllon
which gives me reasonable caus6 to believe that accounting Tecords hav8 not been kepi In
accordance wlth Ihe 2005 Act, or to which attention should be drawn to enable proper
understanding of the accounts to b8 reached.
Omar Nabl FCCA
Ahrnad & Nabi Mcmull n Accountants, Glasgow
Dale..
**Sight Relief (SCIO) | Scottish Charity No. SC051191** info@sight-relief.org | www.sight-relief.org | @media_sightrelief _Trustees: Isma Tahir Khan | Saddaqat Khan | Ali Askar Khan_