Humberside police distribute shatterproof pint glasses to pubs

Humberside police have distributed thousands of shatterproof pint glasses to pubs and clubs across the region in an attempt to reduce glassing injuries as drunken violence increases over the festive period.

Police estimate that each such incident costs the health and emergency services more than £500,000, and say the polycarbonate cups are less likely to cause lifelong scarring and blindness if used as a weapon.

Insp Alex Weeks from Humberside police community safety said the scheme meant that those costs were significantly reduced “and most importantly, people who would now have impaired vision do not.

“The polycarbonate rollout project has been partnership working at its best and provided excellent value for money, and has undoubtedly helped keep people safe on nights out,” Weeks said.

The polycarbonate cups last up to four times longer than their glass counterparts, and are more efficient due to less breakage, fewer replacement costs, easier stacking and insulating qualities.

The scheme has been funded by a £10,000 grant from the Humberside police and crime commissioner, Keith Hunter, who urged more venues to take part in the project.

“[There] are still many licensed establishments which do not use them and I hope this latest campaign will encourage them to do so. The benefits to everyone are obvious and the investment made is very worthwhile compared to the potential damage caused.”

Police have been distributing the glasses to venues in Hull and east Yorkshire since 2008, but this year they are inscribed with messages urging both victims and witnesses of domestic abuse to report it to the authorities.

Slogans on the side of the glasses urge drinkers to “Speak out, we will listen”, “Don’t ignore domestic abuse” and include the hashtag #YouMatter.

DCI Phil Gadd, part of the Protecting Vulnerable People Unit, said that the police were trying to get family and friends to play their part by calling the force if they suspected a loved one was the perpetrator or victim of domestic assault. “The message is simple – don’t ignore domestic abuse,” he said.

According to Alcohol Concern, drink-related crime in the UK is estimated to cost between £8bn and £13bn a year.

Humberside police distribute shatterproof pint glasses to pubs

Why do so several eye surgeons dress in glasses?

My eyesight hit the buffers for the duration of puberty. I couldn’t even see the blackboard, allow alone study anything on it, but I survived by copying from William “Thicky” Hickey (who can not have been that thick or else I’d have never ever made it to health care school). But I was located out when my suspicious Mum attempted an impromptu sight test. “Could you read the best line of that chart?” “What chart?” Boom, boom, and off we go to the opticians.

The sight check was the simple bit, but picking the NHS frames was genuinely tough. Back in 1973, they have been all a bit, well, clear. I walked out of the opticians with what looked like a sea slug asleep on my forehead. Not that that was my major concern. The lenses were so robust that the pavement came up to meet me. Nevertheless, it was more affordable than cider.

Monday morning at Marlborough Grammar College, tentative entrance from ginger boy in new glasses. “Hey, appear! It’s Joe Ninety!” “No it’s not. It’s the Milky Bar Kid.” How we all laughed.

Thankfully, it was a total yr prior to we went complete so I had a bit of time to work on my self-image just before the heckling got truly private. Even then, I only wore my glasses in class. I want I’d been brave enough to put on them round the back of the French hut for impromptu intercourse education. All my adolescent fumbling was misplaced in a purple haze. And I refused to dress in glasses for the walk home from college, which encompassed Britain’s widest high street. Miraculously, I was only hit twice.

At 16, my eyesight stabilised and I switched to contact lenses. I after crashed out right after a party, place them in a glass of water by the bed, woke with a raging thirst and swallowed them. The optician informed me that my insurance did not cover gross acts of stupidity but I received both of them back with a bit of determination and a sieve.

But the outdated challenging get in touch with lenses were hopeless for a junior medical professional on get in touch with. I could not rest in them and I could not invest five minutes putting them in when I was named out to a cardiac arrest. So I switched back to glasses and have stuck with them ever considering that. They’re fantastic for a doctor. You can choose good curvy frames that make you appear more caring and studies have proven that relatives are significantly less very likely to punch you if you are sporting glasses. And if you ever want to escape from actuality, just get off your glasses and the total world gets a scrumptious blur*.

Dr Phil’s glasses attribute proudly on all his books, Medicine Balls (funny), Trust Me, I’m Nevertheless a Medical doctor (scandalous) and Sex, Sleep or Scrabble? (How to pleasure your self in a secure and sustainable way).

* Not advised although sword-fighting or working heavy machinery.

Why do so several eye surgeons dress in glasses?

Specs appeal: German physics instructor brings cost-effective glasses to Rwanda | Mark Tran

OneDollarGlasses technicians can be trained in a fortnight, although it can take two sessions to perfect their expertise. Photograph: Martin Aufmuth

It took Martin Aufmuth three years to bring to fruition his concept to generate a device that can make low cost glasses.

Aufmuth, who won prime prize at the Siemens Stiftung award in October, explained his OneDollarGlasses venture was inspired by the book Out of Poverty by Paul Polak, which he read in 2009.

Aufmuth, who teaches maths and physics in Erlangen, Germany, is a huge fan of Polak’s idea of developing useful options that harness the power of markets to lessen poverty. “It showed me the relevance of innovations that sell for about $ one [60p],” he says.

Costing only $ one to make, the glasses will be offered for in between $ two to $ seven, so OneDollarGlasses opticians can earn their living from them. The spectacles are created by hand on a specially developed bending and milling machine, which requires no electrical energy. Virtually servicing-free of charge, it is made to function in the most remote villages. All the products fits into a wooden box with outer dimensions of 30cm x 30cm x 30cm.

The light-weight and flexible frames are produced from rustproof, hypoallergenic 1mm-spring-steel wire,and the polished, unbreakable lenses are made of polycarbonate with a hardened surface.

The OneDollarGlasses optician has a box with 25 lenses (manufactured in China) varying in strength from -six. to +6. diopters in methods of .5 diopters (a diopter is a unit of measurement of the optical energy of a lens).

Polycarbonate is a lot much more resistant than glass or resin, which are typically utilized in glasses. The lenses, which have notches, can be simply clicked into the frame by hand. Since the glasses – individually adjustable and virtually unbreakable – are lightweight, they do not demand standard nose bridges.

Technicians can be educated in just 14 days, despite the fact that it can consider two sessions to excellent their skills. Eye testing is carried out with a straightforward chart that can be connected to a wall or a tree. Three to four people can operate one manufacturing unit to make 5,000-ten,000 pairs of glasses a yr, Aufmuth says. Following a pilot undertaking in Uganda, Aufmuth and his teams have been instruction individuals in Rwanda since April.

The device, like the bending machine, optical equipment and material for the very first 500 pairs of glasses, costs €2,400 (£2010). Aufmuth realises the startup expenses are unaffordable in target nations, so they are covered fully by donations.

In accordance to the World Well being Organisation (WHO), about 150million people suffer from defective eyesight that could be rectified with a pair of glasses.

“Extreme poverty does not only imply hunger, but also illness, hopelessness, missed opportunities in existence,” Aufmuth says on his site. “Many of them can not go to college for that explanation, can not work and can – as a consequence – not provide for themselves and their families. This is what I want to alter.”

Specs appeal: German physics instructor brings cost-effective glasses to Rwanda | Mark Tran