Local opticians focused on fundraising

Anna Wheatley, a dispensing optician at Specsavers Belper, took part in the recent Ramathon half marathon event raising an impressive £680 for Brain Tumour Research. Anna continued her running endeavours by taking on the Derby Race for Life 10k in July alongside colleague, Charly Grimwood-Butler. They collectively raised more than £200 in aid of Cancer Research UK.

‘We’re over the moon with our fundraising total,’ says Anna. ‘The training was tough in the run up to the events and the races were challenging but it was all worth it for the amount we raised. We are incredibly grateful to all those that have supported and sponsored us.’

The rest of the team have also been involved in fundraising recently, setting up a colouring competition at the store on King Street. They invited youngsters in Belper to enter to raise money for Sight Support Derbyshire, a local charity that helps improve the lives of people with sight loss across the county.

Children were able to design their own pair of colourful glasses, with the opportunity to win a whole host of goodies generously donated by fellow Belper businesses. An entry donation of £1 was suggested, and more than £50 was raised.

Four-year-old Henry was the overall winner and won a big bag of sweets from Oh So Sweet in King Street along with cinema tickets for The Ritz cinema. The prize for second place was a host of sweet treats from Beauepaire Patisserie and third place received a voucher for some milkshakes from The Cobbled Street Café in the 1924 building in Campbell Street.

‘These are part of a whole host of fundraising activities we’ve got planned this year,’ says Annette Wale, store manager at Specsavers Belper. ‘Our colleagues Anna Wheatley and Charly Grimwood-Butler have another charity run planned and we have a charity bake sale coming up too. The whole team is passionate about fundraising, supporting local charities and teaming up with local businesses in our community.’