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Bandon store boss heading for Zambia

October 22nd, 2016 11:55 PM

By Southern Star Team

Marie Burke is off to Zambia next month

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Spectsavers Bandon’s store director Marie Burke is heading to Zambia as part of a team of six  Specsavers volunteers, on Friday November 4th, with Vision Aid Overseas. 

SPECSAVERS Bandon’s store director Marie Burke is heading to Zambia as part of a team of six  Specsavers volunteers, on Friday November 4th, with Vision Aid Overseas. 

Specsavers Ireland has worked closely with Vision Aid Overseas for the last decade, helping the fight against poverty in developing countries by transforming access to eye care.

Marie will be spending two weeks in Zambia, as part of an overall eight-week programme. While in Zambia, Marie and the team will teach 15 nurses in a local hospital how to conduct eye tests, prescribe glasses and detect common eye diseases. With this training, these local nurses will be able to provide optometry services to the community, who would not have access to this level of healthcare otherwise.

With the help of Specsavers, Vision Aid Overseas will provide eye care to people living in Zambia. Over the past five years alone, Specsavers Bandon has collected over 3,500 pairs of old glasses. With over 50,000 frames donated by Irish stores per year, Bandon’s contribution is significant. The glasses are recycled and the money raised is used to fund the charity’s work in developing countries.

The team at Specsavers Bandon is urging locals to donate their old, unwanted glasses, to help improve the eye health of those less fortunate. Customers can get involved in the appeal by dropping their old frames into the in-store collection, which will then be donated to Vision Aid Overseas.

In an effort to support Marie’s upcoming travels, Specsavers Bandon is running a colouring competition in store for all children under 12, for a chance to win a chocolate hamper. 

The store is also holding a raffle on Saturday October 29th with all proceeds going directly to Vision Aid Overseas. 

There will be two pairs of designer glasses to be won, along with a host of other exciting prizes. Tickets are €1 in the store.

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