Melksham opticians get involved as christmas card competition sets sights on charity

Story posted on October 9, 2013

EIGHT Wiltshire and North East Somerset opticians have teamed up to offer primary school children the chance to design a Christmas card which will be sold to raise money for the Wiltshire Blind Association (WBA).

Specsavers is asking local children to design a Christmas card with an optical theme.

Run across three age groups: 4-6 years, 7-9 years and 10-11 years, a winner in each category will receive a £25 Amazon voucher. From these three, an overall winner will be picked by Specsavers store directors to be made into a Christmas card and sold in stores, with all proceeds going to the WBA. The winning pupil will also be presented with a Kindle and their school will receive an iPad.   Entry templates are available from the eight participating stores from now until the competition closes on Friday 11th October. All entries must be either sent in or dropped off at one of the stores by this date. Winners will be announced week commencing 21st October.

Martyn Thomas, store director at Specsavers in Melksham said, “It might only be October but it will be Christmas before we know it! We thought this competition would be a great way to get local school children to use their creative skills and also raise some money for the WBA, which is our charity of the year. We look forward to receiving the entries and I’m sure picking the winners will be a tough job.”

The Wiltshire Blind Association helps more than 1,500 registered blind and partially sighted people living throughout Wiltshire and Swindon. Since 1919 the WBA has been providing practical, emotional, physical and social support for individuals learning to live their life with little or no sight.

WBA’s aim is to provide local visually impaired people with the support they need to make the most of the sight they have and to help them to be as independent as possible. As an independent charity the WBA receives no core funding from statutory sources and relies on the generosity of local people and businesses. Their priority is to ensure that as much of their resources as possible are put directly into front-line services.

Specsavers Melksham, situated at 29 Bank Street, will be participating in the competition. You can also log onto www.specsavers.co.uk/storename for more details.