Watch out for Funky Fun on Funky Eye Friday

Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind
Media Release
6 Aug 2004

SOS: Watch out for Funky Fun on Funky Eye Friday (27 August 2004)

The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind is calling all primary and intermediate school students to get down and get funky on Friday 27 August as part of their Funky Eye Friday competition.

For the last two years students all over the country have baked, glued, twisted, painted and glittered, all in aid of raising awareness about good eye care and blindness awareness.

Organised by the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB) as part of Save Our Sight month, Funky Eye Friday uses interesting and innovative ways to promote regular eye checks and good eye care as a public health issue in schools and the competition is sponsored by Dirty Dog Eyewear.

The competition seeks to increase awareness that young children can have crossed eyes, refractive errors or childhood cataracts, which can all lead to Amblyopia or lazy eye, a condition which if untreated can cause permanent damage to children’s vision involving stereoscopic (3D) vision and depth perception.

Although accompanied by a serious health message, Funky Eye Friday also challenges children to have some fun and come up with the funkiest pair of eyeglass frames they can imagine, and send them into the RNZFB for judging.

The winners will receive great prize packs donated by Dirty Dog Eyewear.

Chris Inglis, RNZFB Blindness Awareness and Prevention divisional manager says, ”The ultimate aim of the Funky Eye Friday competition is to teach children the importance of looking after their eye health through regular eye checks.

“In the past, kids have used anything from Lego to lollipops, pipecleaners to paper mache, and straw to shells to create funky frames – and it all helps to contribute to their eye health awareness.

“We encourage all schools to get involved in the competition on 27 August and advise the rest of the community to be on the lookout for local primary and intermediate school children sporting funky and trendy eyeglass frames!”

The Save our Sight Campaign is an annual event delivered in partnership between the NZ Association of Optometrists (NZAO), the RNZFB and Retina New Zealand.

This is the third year this campaign has taken place, building on the success of previous years. Last year the number of entries registered doubled from the inaugural year in 2002. The primary objective of Save our Sight campaign is to emphasise the importance of having regular eye examinations.

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