Thank You Specsavers

Specsavers logo.
Specsavers logo.

What a wonderful effort from the staff and clients of Specsavers in St. Helens.

After raffles, collections, and a fun day in the store in aid of The Eye Fund, they presented Carol and Paul with a cheque for £1210.67. Well done everybody

Carol and Paul receive a huge cheque from Specsavers staff.
Carol and Paul receive a huge cheque from Specsavers staff.

Your contributions will go a long way to helping people like Simon. Thank you so much.

Anybody reading this who thinks they can help in however small a way please contact us.

Speak The Web donate to The Eye Fund

We were recently given a donation of £500 by Speak the Web. They ran a series of small, intimate, low cost web design & development events in the style of a gig, providing inspiring talks by both experienced and new speakers for a low cost which were easy to access.

This donation means a lot to The Eye Fund, as Simon would be thrilled to know a bunch of nerds had raised some money in his honour.

We contacted some of the guys involved to ask why they chose The Eye Fund:

Jake Smith

When I was asked to talk at the Liverpool session of Speak The Web, little did I realise how much the event would come to mean to me.

Part of the remit for the organisers — Dan Donald and Rich Clark — was to cover costs for the event, then put anything made above this towards charities. There’s a charity that I feel is important, as it was set up by my friend Phil Sherry and his family, after his brother Simon was losing his sight due to Retinal Cone Dystrophy.

I knew Simon, and spent many a good evening discussing music, art or mathematics with him, over a cold beer of course.

As a designer and developer, I realise how important our sight is. My job of front end development relies so heavily on being able to see precisely in colour and have an eye for detail, something which we take for granted.

When Dan and Rich asked for charity suggestions, so many things added up and it wasn’t difficult to make my opinion known. I’m from Liverpool, I was speaking at a conference in Liverpool, Phil and his family are Scouse, Phil and I are both front end devs…

I suggested the the charity to Dan and Rich, and weeks later, was over–whelmed to hear that the Eye Fund had been chosen as one of the three charities that would receive a donation.

To take part in the event was amazing, but to see how well it was received and how organising something as polarised as a web conference can benefit local charities is pretty humbling. A big thanks to all involved.

Jake Smith, End of Level Boss.

Dan Donald

The events we put on were primarily about putting on a decent, different format or web conference, which is something that normally bypasses the North. We wanted to show that we can make things like this happen for ourselves. The more we thought about what we wanted these to be, the more we realised that while they should be a great nights for all involved, perhaps we could try and get as much out of the experience as we could. With Rich working full–time in an agency and me being freelance, we weren’t doing this as a commercial concern, so decided these 4 nights would be an experiment and therefore, not–for–profit. With that in mind, if we actually covered costs, why not give something to local charities?

We asked speakers, attendees and friends for suggestions for charities we should donate to and had some great suggestions but it always means more if there’s a personal connection. We’ve got to know Jake (Smith, one of our speakers) pretty well and the fact that he had a connection with the Eye Fund made it a great choice. Hopefully the money we’ve raised will help make a difference!

Dan Donald, Here in the Hive & Speak the Web organiser.

Once again, guys: thank you, so much.

Donations

We have had 2 very good donations recently; one of £500 from The Eleanor Rathbone Trust, and one for £200 from The Proven Family Trust.

I sent about 50 letters out to various Charity Trusts asking for donations. It’s worked up to now. So, as you can see, we have had a very busy and successful year.

However, we would like a little more help. Is there anyone out there who would like to lend a hand now and again? Perhaps you could organise a quiz night or jumble sale or coffee morning. Anything would be welcome.

Thank you.

2008 Round-up

Simon’s family wish all of his friends and supporters a very happy Christmas and a good 2009. Raise a glass to him at New Year.

The Eye Fund has had a very good first year: upwards of £26,000 has been raised. There is a counsellor already working at a Wirral Eye Clinic, funded by The Eye Fund. Next year 2 more counsellors will be helping people like Simon, in London and Liverpool.

We would like to thank everyone. Please keep helping. Have you thought of a monthly donation of as little as £5? Download the form for more information. Every little helps!