Moneo writes: Doing our bit for communities

One of the pleasures of running a community optometric practice is the contact that affords with the local community. There are many practices out there who will possibly be associated with a local sports club or maybe sponsor someone in their local community. One of the simplest ways of supporting the local community is by means of charity collecting boxes. The larger national charities have many varied ways of raising money to support their work but often local or small national charities really struggle to raise much needed money.

This has never been more the case than now in these stringent fiscal times. For many years we have always kept a charity box on the reception desk supporting our local sight impaired charity. Often patients will pop in for small things that need attention, maybe a frame adjustment or a running repair, sometimes just a simple piece of quick advice. On these occasions we would never consider charging a person for that but we do try and encourage them to make a small donation in the charity box.