CBM UK, the overseas disability charity based in Cambridgeis launching a campaign for World Sight Day this Thursday (October 10), calling on coffee lovers to sacrifice their daily take-away cuppa for one whole week to restore the sight of those blinded by cataracts.
Sight-restoring cataract surgery for an adult in a developing country costs as little as £24, the equivalent of 8-12 lattes.
Sixteen million of us drink at least one take-away coffee a week, with a staggering 800,000 adults visiting a coffee shop at least four times a week! With a take-away cuppa costing an average of £2.20, this affordable treat can soon mount up to a considerable spend.
CBM is asking people to consider sacrificing their take-away coffee for a while and instead, to donate the money towards the charity’s vital work restoring sight to those living in the world’s poorest countries.
Cataracts produce a devastating economic as well as emotional impact on people who are already living in extreme poverty. In the developing world, more than half of children who go blind will die within two years due to limited access to health services and a lack of food. After surgery, a cataract can never develop again. In 2012, CBM performed more than 790,000 sight saving operations.
Kirsty Smith, Chief Executive of CBMUK says, “Britons spend an average of £122 million per week on take-away coffee. So many of us take the value of sight for granted. With further donations we can continue to transform the lives of so many people and help them lead a life that may have not otherwise been possible. Can you give up a week of cuppas to give the gift of sight?”
If you would like to make a sight-saving donation to the work of CBM, please call 01223 484700 or you can donate online at www.cbmuk.org.uk
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For further press information, including case studies, pictures or interviews with spokespeople from CBM please contact the CBM media team on 01223 484700, clarer@cbmuk.org.uk. For media enquiries out of hours, please call 07903 205442.
CBM
CBM, the overseas disability charity, is an international disability and development organisation committed to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities and those at risk of disability. CBM is working in over 70 of the poorest countries of the world and reaching more than 31 million people each year.
- Almost 80% of blindness in the developing world is preventable, avoidable and treatable.
- 90% of the world’s visually impaired live in developing countries
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