Two teams of Specsavers Australia & New Zealand employees will undertake a 30km hike in Melbourne, Victoria to help restore sight to needlessly blind people around the world.
The teams – which are made up of staff from the Specsavers Support Office in Port Melbourne – will undertake the 2018 Coastrek hike from Koonya Beach to Point Nepean on the Mornington Peninsula on 25 May 2018, travelling through rugged coastlines, spectacular bays, secret bush trails and past historic sites. Each team aims to raise $2,000 for The Fred Hollows Foundation, Specsavers’ national charity partner.
The ‘SpecTrekkers’ team includes Richard Couch (Head of Dispensing Advancement), Carla Alviano (Senior Legal Counsel), Sarah McInnes (Marketing Director) and Duchesne Markham (Local Public Relations Manager), while ‘SpecTrekkers 2.0’ comprises Cathy Rennie Matos (Head of Public Relations), Katie Philp (Dispensing Advancement Manager), Reah Armstrong (Head of Contact Lenses) and Bill Moir (Trading Director).
Specsavers Support Office staff will also be volunteering to assist The Fred Hollows Foundation in hosting the Sight Simulation Dome during the event. The Dome is a unique interactive experience that will help Coastrekkers understand the Foundation’s work and how donated funds are being used. It will allow participants to experience views of, for example, Portsea Beach through the eyes of someone afflicted with cataract, glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy, and help them appreciate the difference that sight-restoring treatment can make in the lives of such patients.
The Fred Hollows Foundation is an international development organisation that works in more than 25 countries, helping to train and empower local eye doctors, nurses and health workers to create a sustainable system of care in the communities that need it most.
Specsavers shares the Foundation’s vision of ensuring everyone has access to high-quality, affordable eye health, and has raised more than $2 million for the Foundation through the Specsavers Community Program. Australian and New Zealand Specsavers stores donate a portion of their glasses sales to local charity partners as well as to The Fred Hollows Foundation.
If you’d like to support the Specsavers teams’ fundraising efforts, please visit their respective team pages:
SpecTrekkers fundraising page
SpecTrekkers 2.0 fundraising page
