Clitheroe business celebrates its opening with a contribution to local charity

Since opening its doors on 12th July, Specsavers Clitheroe has been dedicated to raising funds to The Foundation for Ribble Valley Families, a charity which supports families to improve mental health and wellbeing.

The store pledged to donate £1 to the charity for every sight test performed in the first two weeks of August. Following a successful opening, the store presented the foundation with a cheque for £350 on its inaugural store launch event on August 17.

The event welcomed the Mayor and his Mayoress, Simon and Donna O’Rourke, to perform the official ribbon cutting for the store, as well as inviting the duo to partake in their own eye tests and OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) scans.

Also in attendance was artist, Molly Lester, who provided live illustrations for happy customers throughout the day. The joyful launch event and its associated entertainment marked a step forward for Clitheroe’s high street.

Sidrah Rashid and Jagdeep Kainth, store directors at Specsavers Clitheroe, praised the store’s opening event saying: ‘The local community has really embraced the new store, commenting that it’s been a long time coming. We’re really thankful of how welcoming our local customers have been.

"It was a great opportunity to host the Mayor and Mayoress at our launch event and to be able to show them round the new state of the art facilities, including our hospital-grade OCT machines, demonstrating the value we will be providing.

"We were also delighted to present The Foundation for Ribble Valley Families with the funds we had raised, and we look forward to seeing how we may support this vital organisation as the store progresses."

Claire Carter, development manager at The Foundation for Ribble Valley Families, said: ‘Since we started the charity in 2015, we’ve provided support to over 400 local families, offering Brief Solution Focused therapy in the form of one to one therapeutic coaching for parents and young people to help manage anxiety and low mood.

"This funding from Specsavers Clitheroe will enable us to continue with our vital work, supporting families in need across the local area."