julEYE is the month people can get away with almost anything, embarrass themselves to the amusement of their mates or face their fears all in the name of charity. But there is a more serious side to it. 75% of vision loss is preventable or treatable. Yet every 65 minutes an ordinary, everyday Australian loses part or all of their vision.

What Would You Pay To See?
What would you pay to see a close relative, child or friend facing vision loss told they could keep their sight? What if it was you? The sad reality is the opposite happens to 10,000 Australians a year. But don’t let that daunt you. By either participating in a fun challenge or donating even a small amount of money, you’ll be making a big difference. And it’s working. We just need more help from you.

How it works
Say you’re a Sydneysider who’s scared of heights
You might say to your mates, What would you pay to see me climb the Harbour Bridge? You create a challenge page, set your fundraising target, ask your friends and family to donate to your challenge and once you’ve reached your target you have to do it for real, posting video or photographic evidence. It’s that simple!

You could also do a group or company activity
What would you pay to see your boss work at reception? Now you can. Your boss just needs to create a challenge page, set a fundraising target, ask the staff to donate and once they’ve reached their fundraising target, do it for real. For more information about how a company can be involved, please click here.

How about getting involved at school
What would you pay to see your teacher come to school in uniform? We’ve also got a stack of prizes for the best challenges and the most amount of money raised. Need some help coming up with your challenges? Visit our ideas factory. The idea is to keep the challenges as fun, clean and fresh as possible. Nothing illegal or demeaning, as funny as it may seem at the time, will be accepted.

The basics
julEYE (formerly July) is an annual charity campaign dedicated to raising awareness and funds for eye health research. Last year we were able to raise over $1 million in donations and pro bono support thanks to people who donated a little of their time or money.

julEYE is an initiative of The Eye Foundation, which was established by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) to support the ophthalmic community in research grants and development programs. All money raised from julEYE goes to the Eye Foundation’s four priority research projects into eye disease.