Here, at Community Eyecare, we are aware that keeping our team hydrated will aid them to perform at their very best throughout the work day. As a result, we decided to invest in AquAid watercoolers from AquAid. Our unique relationship with AquAid has also given our company the opportunity to help those less fortunate than ourselves, because with each purchase an automatic donation is made to the Africa Trust. These funds are used to build ‘Elephant Pumps’ – a modified version of an age old Chinese rope pulley system. One such pump is currently being installed in Africa on our behalf and it will be a much needed source of clean and fresh drinking water for many. Our organisation’s name will be proudly displayed on our well and we look forward to adding some photos and letters of thanks from the villagers to our site in the near future. To date AquAid have built over 8,000 such Elephant Pumps across parts of Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe; and have donated in excess of £16 million to charity. To find out more, you can visit their website: www.aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk It has been 6 months already since COVID took hold in the UK. Whilst we managed the initial uncertainty with a period of lockdown, case numbers are rising once again. This will translate in the next few weeks to affect the elderly, with winter 2020 becoming one of the toughest in history for the health service and UK. This round of infections has been driven by the young and fuelled by evening night life in the UK. Hence, it will not be long before there is talk of a second lockdown, yet this may not be to the same calibre as last time. Consequently, it is important to consider some aspects of your business to keep functional; this will undoubtedly cause complications, where staffing levels will be required to fluctuate at short notice. Now that children have returned to school, it is likely that whole year groups will need to self-isolate, which will also cause their parents to take time off to look after them, whilst frontline workers may also be forced to self-isolate at short notice if they begin to display symptoms. Similarly, our actions outside of the workplace remain equally as important to prevent the spread of the virus, therefore we would still encourage you to listen to government advice to wear a face mask, sanitise your hands regularly and maintain 2m distance. At Community Eyecare, whilst regularly adhering to all government guidelines, we have also made contingency plans internally to ensure that we can remain business as usual as best as possible by having the correct plans in place and utilising our own stock of testing kits that provide results within 20 minutes. Please do make sure you are all ready for the second wave. For further information on how to prepare against rising cases of coronavirus, please refer to the latest government guidelines at www.gov.uk/coronavirus. Updated Information for the public from the Department of Health and Social Care on the outbreak of coronavirus, including the current situation in the UK and information about the virus and its symptoms. Join us in supporting Galloways and go Bright for Sight on 7th Feb. On Friday 7th February, Community Health and Eyecare will be supporting Galloways Society for the Blind by going “Bright for Sight”. Since 1867 when the charity was first established, Galloways has evolved to provide a range of services that support over 7,000 blind and partially sighted people across the Lancashire and Sefton area. Here at Community Health and Eyecare, we will raise money throughout our “Bright for Sight” event by holding a raffle, a Bright Bake Off and all be wearing bright coloured clothes for the event, as bright colours are easiest for someone with a visual impairment to see. It is a simple, fun and effective way for us to support Galloway’s and help to continue our work with blind and partially sighted people. we hope that our fundraising efforts can raise enough money for further research, equipment and resources that help Galloways in delivering vital support to blind and partially sighted people in the local community. The UK’s leading sight loss charity- Fight for Sight, launched its new campaign earlier this month, raising awareness of eyesight issues by sharing stories of people affected by sight loss. In Fight for Sights own words, approximately 20% of people will experience sight degeneration or impairment throughout their lifetime, hence the “20 stories for 2020” campaign aims to share the first-hand, personal impact that sight loss is having daily in numerous lives. This also features the story of 15-year-old Rose Roberts, who was diagnosed with Stargadt macular dystrophy when she was seven years old. Speaking about her sight loss, Rose said: “When suffering from eye conditions it’s not only your vision that’s impaired, but also your ability to live your life easily”. In doing so, the campaign hopes to deliver a clear message- that in taking eyecare seriously and with continued research into eyecare, patient wellbeing can be significantly improved. Congratulations to all staff at Community Health and Eyecare who successfully raised £347.21 for Macmillan, helping to support those currently living with cancer. As Macmillan say, this is a fantastic amount of money that is enough to fund large activities such as enabling families affected by cancer to take a holiday and enjoy some precious time together; or alternatively cover the costs needed for providing vital support services to patients.