Bury: Specscart recycling old glasses for charity milestone

The donation milestone was reached this winter, thanks to the help from Specscart shoppers across Greater Manchester.

Each of the three Specscart stores in the area has a Bury Lions Club recycling bin where customers drop off broken, out-of-date, or unwanted spectacles after upgrading their glasses with the eyewear company.

Specscart founder and managing director Sid Sethi said: "Specscart customers, in their thousands, have been giving the gift of sight to complete strangers thanks to this brilliant campaign over the last seven years.

"From day one, Specscart has been an enthusiastic supporter of this recycling project, but it has only been a great success because our customers have big hearts and a generous spirit.

"This 50,000-donation milestone is a fantastic achievement - that's a pair of glasses for every fan at a sell-out match at the Etihad Stadium - and something we're immensely proud of."

Specscart founder and managing director Sid Sethi (Image: Mark Waugh)

The Lions Club International's Recycle for Sight campaign has been recycling unwanted spectacles and hearing aids for almost 50 years and donating them to people in need from 25 countries worldwide.

Specscart's Recycle for Sight bins are among the 1,200 drop-off points across the UK.

So far this year, 'more than one million pairs' of glasses have been donated to the nationwide Recycle for Sight campaign.

Waste material from the glasses and hearing aids that cannot be used is incinerated to supply energy to the National Grid or recycled for scrap to boost the charity's funds.

Jacqui Sorfleet, from Bury Lions Club, said: "We get fabulous support from opticians like Specscart for this campaign where nothing goes to waste.

"A big thank you to everyone that donates - each pair of glasses or hearing aid has the potential to change someone’s life for the better in places like Papua New Guinea, Mali, and Ukraine."

For more information, visit www.specscart.co.uk.