Coventry’s Lord Mayor will be visiting Indian statePunjabas part of a sight-saving campaign.
Coun Keiran Mulhall will join members ofCoventry’s Sikh Union next month on a four-day camp in Jalandhar city.
The stay will see opticians and doctor providing free eye care and treatment to citizens who cannot afford it.
Coun Mulhall told reporters that he was “shocked” by the number of people who cannot afford treatment and that people in Jalandhar “don’t have the same standard of care as we do.”
He said, “The members of the Sikh Union told me all about the (eye) camps and invited me along so I just had to go.”
The Lord Mayor, who will be accompanied by his daughter Kim, has paid for the flights himself and will be staying inIndiafor 10 days in February.
TheUnionraised £2,500 to fund surgeons and opticians to give free cataract operations and glasses to those in need.
This year’s camp will be the fourth one that the group have help inIndia.
A spokesperson for the Sikh Union told reporters, “It just brings tears to your eyes when you see how happy people are afterwards. It is very touching.”
The Lord Mayor will meet with the Lord Mayors of other Punjabi cities during his trip to talk to them aboutCoventry.
The Unionwas originally established as a Hockey Club in 1970 and has expanded to become a voluntary organisation as well, organising events and sports activities and fundraising plans.
