THOUSANDS of Rwandans could be helped to see using adjustable glasses conceived and developed in Oxford.

Charity Vision For A Nation has been given £250,000 by the UK’s Department for International Development to spend on the project.

The charity’s aim is to provide glasses to all Rwandans aged over eight who would benefit from the spectacles.

And the glasses were developed by Oxford-based business Adlens, which has its headquarters in Park End Street.

For each pair of glasses bought from the firm a second pair is donated to the charity for use in Rwanda.

Announcing the funding, development secretary Justine Greening said: “These affordable, self-adjustable glasses are a real game changer.

“British ingenuity like this can transform the lives of millions of visually impaired people across the developing world. I’m proud that British inventors and designers are responsible for breakthroughs that continue to improve the world around us.”

Adaptable spectacles allow the wearer to adjust the lenses to his or her individual needs.

Adlen’s glasses are based on an idea by nuclear physicist Dr Joshua Silver, of New College, Oxford, of filling lenses with a transparent fluid, enabling the focus to be changed.

Mike Ferrara, chief executive of Adlens, said the adaptive glasses were now being used in countries such as the United States and Japan and other Asian countries, as well as in the developing world.

He said: “We have made 250,000 pairs of one type of glasses, but that is just a starting point.”

The charity’s executive director, Sjoerd Hannema, praised the Oxford firm.

He said: “This represents a crucial innovation in efforts to provide affordable primary eye care services to remote populations in low and middle-income countries.

“Vision for a Nation will provide all Rwandans aged eight years and above with immediate access to primary eye care services and affordable eyeglasses.”

To date the charity has trained 783 Rwandan nurses, with 5,783 people receiving a vision assessment and 1,779 receiving a pair of glasses.

This is in a country with a population of ten million but only four optometrists and 10 ophthalmologists.