A WEST Suffolk opticians firm has received a record response to an annual appeal for surplus spectacles.

Drage & Tozer, based in Sudbury, is a long-standing supporter of Sudbury Rotary Club’s initiative to collect used spectacles for recycling by the Vision Aid Overseas charity – but contributions this year have far exceeded previous hauls, with several hundred pairs donated.

Sudbury Rotary Club president Malcolm Offord, who as a customer first brought the appeal to the attention of owners Helen Drage and Sandra Tozer, thanked the firm and its customers for their support.

Helen Drage said: “Obviously, this is an initiative very close to our hearts as it deals with access to eye care – 670 million people, 10% of the world’s population, are disabled or disadvantaged because they don’t have glasses.

“This is an astonishing figure, especially when it is so easy to take eye care and glasses for granted in the UK.

“Vision Aid Overseas aims to transform eye care in developing countries by providing services that will enable everyone, even the poorest, to access glasses.”