Staff at Newton Aycliffe Specsavers have raised £345.22 for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
Following the recent National Eye Health Week they decided it was the perfect time to take action and kick off a fundraising drive for the charity.
Customers had the chance to take part in a raffle that had a top prize of designer glasses from the £99 range with ultra-clear superclean treatment. There was also a huge hamper full of chocolates and sweets.
There’s a record number of older people in employment in the north east who are being urged to make their eye health a priority as pension entitlement ages increase.
Official figures show that there are 26,000 Brits over the age of 65 working in the north east, with a further 8,000 expected to be in employment by 2030, as people continue to live longer and healthier lives.
However 6500 of them are not getting their eyes tested regularly, making them more susceptible to glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts, which could have an impact on their life and work. That is why Specsavers is teaming up with sight loss charity, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), to urge Britain’s ageing workforce to take their eye health seriously.
Jeremy Moss, store manager at Specsavers in Newton Aycliffe, says: ‘It is so important for residents to look after their eyes and have regular eye tests, especially for the early detection of conditions which could lead to loss of sight.
He adds: ‘We have been running a raffle in store to raise as much money as possible for RNIB and we are so pleased to have helped support its work. The work RNIB does is incredible, and we wanted to raise funds so they can continue to help people living with sight loss conditions throughout the UK.’
Research shows there are already more than 200,000 people with preventable sight loss conditions of AMD, cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy in the north east and as the figures show this is a number which is expected to climb.
That is why Specsavers in the north east has invested more than £80k through providing Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) – hospital grade eye testing scanners – and personnel training to commit themselves in improving the vision for residents in the north east and to tackle the growing problem that comes with our ageing population. It has done this by ensuring they have more than 100 minor eye condition-qualified optometrists and at least one fully trained RNIB Ambassador in each store in the north east who has undergone eye health training to complement the optometrist’s skills to ensure whoever a customer first sees in-store is sympathetic to their eye care needs.