East End Foods plc helping to save sight

This Christmas East End Foods is aiming to raise £15,000 for the charity Sight savers - enough money to fund 500 sight saving operations for people with blinding cataracts across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Africa.

10p from every pack of 10kg and 20p from 20kg bags of Premium Gold Chapatti flour and East End Basmati rice will go towards helping Sightsavers transform the lives of people living with blinding cataracts. These products will be available in store from 1st October to 31st December 2015.

More than twenty million people in the world are blind due to cataracts. Yet the condition is easily treatable with a straightforward operation. For many people living in the poorest parts of the world however, surgery is beyond their means. Often people can't get to a health centre, they don't know their condition is treatable, or simply can't afford the operation.

Take Mulika Dep for example. Mulika, from Bangladesh, began losing her sight many years ago. She was embarrassed and didn't tell anyone about the problem for a long time, but would struggle to do her housework. It wasn't until a Sightsavers-supported health worker came to her village to screen eyes that she discovered her condition was treatable. Although nervous at being referred to the hospital for surgery, she was thrilled when, following a quick operation; she was able to see once again.

David Wouhra Managing Director East End Foods says: “This is the latest project by East End Foods as part of its commitment to continually improving the health and social status of our society. We are very grateful to Sightsavers for the opportunity to help us restore sight to and improve the lives of many more people, like Mulika, living with blinding cataracts”.