Optical Express staff have raised over £10,000 in aid of this year’s STV Appeal – and played a starring role in the charity’s live fundraising television show.
A grand total of £2.6million was raised by the 2014 STV Appeal.
Sarah Hill, manager of Optical Express’ Glasgow contact centre, handed over a cheque for the value of £8,671 to the charity last night [Thursday October 9] as part of The Big Live, a special two and a half hour show hosted by Scots presenter Lorraine Kelly.
During the programme, a team from the company’s contact centre also joined Scots stars including the First Minister, Alex Salmond, actor Paul Brannigan and X Factor’s Nicholas McDonald in STV’s studios to field donation calls. After members of the public pledged their support to celebrities calls were then processed by Optical Express contact centre staff.
Optical Express has supported the STV Appeal since it was launched in 2011.
In September, a team of more than 30 Optical Express staff raised more than £1,000 for the STV Appeal by taking part in Pedal for Scotland, a 47-mile challenge cycle between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The company also donated a treatment voucher with a value of £4,000 to the STV Appeal Grand Online Charity Auction and held a charity ‘dress down’ day.
During the final fundraising push, staff from the eye care provider’s Glasgow contact centre spent a week helping to field donation calls to the appeal as a series of special TV programmes highlighted its work. The company’s donation of contact centre facilities including hundreds of man hours equated to an estimated sum of £10,000.
Sarah Hill said:
“Being part of the STV Appeal is incredibly important to Optical Express. We passionately believe that tackling child poverty in Scotland will help to ensure that young people have the best possible opportunities while growing up.”
“We also relished the challenge of taking part. We’ve been involved with the appeal since it launched back in 2011 and are really proud to still be a part of it.”
The STV Appeal was established by STV and the Hunter Foundation not only to support children and young people affected by child poverty in Scotland but also to raise awareness of the issue. One in five children in Scotland are affected by poverty – amounting to more than 200,000 young people.
The STV Appeal has raised more than £8.2million since it was launched in 2011.
