Graham Layton Trust Gala 2016

The Graham Layton Trust (GLT) celebrated 32 years of providing free eye care for the poor of Pakistan, with a fundraising Gala at the Four Seasons Hotel in Park Lane, London. Over £170,000 was raised to buy state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment for paediatric units in one of its teaching hospitals in Karachi.

GLT supports its sister charity, LRBT, which is the largest provider of eye care in Pakistan. Over three decades, 33 million patients have been treated - entirely free of charge. Poverty and blindness are closely associated, and Pakistan has nearly 2 million blind people – 80% of whom can be cured if only they had access to free eye surgery. Every year, 17 million people need basic eye care but more than 50% are too poor to afford it.

GLT helps maintain LRBT’s 19 free eye hospitals and 55 free eye clinics that are spread across the country, providing basic eye care as well as the most complex eye surgery to those in need. There are three teaching hospitals, all with paediatric units, and the funds raised will provide the most advanced technology to save the sight of premature children and babies.

The Gala was opened by GLT’s new Patron: Lord Michael Dobbs. Mian Ershad Zaheen, Chairman of The Graham Layton Trust, welcomed the guests, and Art Malik, the popular television and stage actor, compered the glittering evening.

Lord Jeffrey Archer conducted the auction and raised generous pledges of support for the charity from the 230 guests present. The evening’s entertainment was staged by the talented fashion designer, Faraz Manan, whose exquisitely embroidered and sequined creations, brought sparkle and glamour to the evening.

The motto of the charity is ‘Restoring sight, transforming lives’; and the funds raised will bring light to the lives of thousands in Pakistan.

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