Scrivens helps African refugees

Midlands-based optical chain Scrivens is donating equipment and hundreds of pairs of spectacles to poverty-stricken areas of East Africa.

Seven volunteers from Sutton Coldfield will take the donation to Tanzania and the Kenyan capital Nairobi later this month. The three-week trip will support Rema Ministries in their work with Burundian refugees in Tanzania where it is estimated there are half a million Burundian people living in extreme poverty.

Scrivens marketing director Andrea Callaway (pictured centre) said: 'The equipment will not only enable the visually impaired to read, but also help them do close work such as woodcarving and enable  them to become more economically independent. She is pictured with Sally Botteley, team leader of the trip to Africa, and Phil Cole, deputy leader with some of the donated equipment.