Bedford opticians is donating much-needed items to a foodbank that feeds thousands of people

A Bedford opticians is donating much-needed items to a foodbank to help feed more than 2,000 people each month.

The Specsavers store in the Harpur Centre is giving food items each time a customer leaves a review.

Since August 2023, the store has donated over 350 items of food to the foodbank, and staff have already begun the count for October.

Carl Furnell, Specsavers Bedford store manager, says: ‘We are passionate about donating to the Bedford Foodbank, especially in such uncertain times.

‘We thought this would be an easy way for everyone to help out. It costs nothing to leave a review through the email sent to customers after their appointments, and we get to do a good thing from it.’

After an appointment at Specsavers Bedford, customers receive an email from the Maze reporting system, asking them to review their appointment. The brief completed survey then counts towards the store’s monthly food item tally.

Andrea Badman, from the Bedford Foodbank, says: ‘During 2022, over 185,000 tonnes of food were given out, nearly 9,000 vouchers were redeemed, 19,628 people were fed, of which 6,813 were children.

‘We couldn’t provide this essential service without donations from people like Bedford Specsavers. We are so very grateful for their generosity.

‘If you go onto our website you can find information on what kind of food donations we need at the moment and how to donate.’

Further information about the Bedford foodbank is available at https://bedford.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/ .

Anyone unable to visit the Specsavers Bedford store unaccompanied due to disability or illness can receive care at home via a team of mobile opticians. The Specsavers home visits service covers more than 90% of the UK.

For further information, call the store on 01234 923995 or visit https://www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/bedford