Bradford Royal Infirmary receives an early Christmas present from local opticians
Bradford Royal Infirmary received an early Christmas present this week after a join effort Specsavers Bingley, Keighley and Shipley delivered a whopping £1,000 cheque for the hospital’s neonatal ward.
The money will go towards a new unit at the hospital, which will allow parents of poorly children to stay over at the neonatal ward.
This is the store’s third annual fundraising challenge, with the team topping last year’s total of £650 which was donated to the Keighley Imagination Library.
This year’s fundraising saw members of the community, young and old, taking part in everything from tombola and charity raffles to lucky dips and face painting. The store also donated a selection of presents for children on the ward.
Paige Smith, the stores’ community engagement and event coordinator, who helped to organise the charity event, says: ‘It’s amazing that we’ve smashed last year’s target and raised a massive £1,000. Thanks so much to everyone who’s donated - it was an honour to arrive at the hospital to donate such an incredible amount and we couldn’t have done it without our amazing community.’
Lisa Williams, head of fundraising at Bradford Hospitals Charity, says: ‘Specsavers have been a pleasure to work with this year and it’s very clear how passionate they are about giving back to their local community.
‘These events take a huge amount of time and effort to organise, the team worked so hard to deliver their amazing event. We are very grateful for their incredible donation of £1,000. Thank you Specsavers for your support.’
As if that wasn’t enough, the Specsavers Yorkshire stores kickstarted another fundraising challenge this week (20 December) by taking part in Crisis UK’s Icebreaker Challenge.
Taking place at the Bingley and Keighley branches on Friday, several staff members from each store committed to plunging in ice baths for two minutes in a bid to raise money for Crisis UK.
The charity, an official partner of Specsavers, regularly supports people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
The challenge has raised an impress XXX so far. To donate to the fundraiser, visit www.justgiving.com/page/shipleybingleycrisis.
To find out more about Bradford Hospitals Charity, visit www.bradfordhospitalscharity.org.