 The charity has formalised its relationship with the UK eye care industry, and is often the chosen charity supported by many dispensing opticians, and professionals via the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, who collect old spectacles from customers for recycling via VAO.The charity gained publicity in 2005 after the death of "Countdown" game show host Richard Whiteley.After his death, his longtime partner Kathryn Apanowicz donated three pairs of Whiteley's spectacles to VAO, who sent them with a team of optical professionals to Ethiopia, where they were fitted to three locals with the same prescription.