ABDO College Decathlon raises £2k+ for charity

ABDO College students and staff came together last week for a fun and energetic Decathlon, which raised £2,846 for Vision Care for Homeless People (VCHP) – enough to fund a clinic for five months.

Students enthusiastically created three teams, ‘Friends of Facial Furniture’, ‘The Protect Plus Blue Team’, ‘The 515 Crew’ and College staff made the fourth team. Races diverged from the usual decathlon to include welly wanging, egg and spoon, tug of war and a wet sponge relay. The event was won by a narrow margin by ‘Friends of Facial Furniture’ with only a few points between the other three teams.

Funds were raised by entry tickets, which included a raffle ticket, drink and burger or hotdog, along with generous sponsorship of the following races by the optical industry:
• Essilor: The Eyezen Start Sprint (100m)
• Haag Streit Low Vision Relay
• Mac & Pure Eyewear Wheelbarrow Race
• Stepper Sack Race
• Millmead Wellie Wanging
• Topcon 3 Legged Race
• Bondeye Egg and Spoon Race
• Caledonian Optical Target Shoot Out
• Seiko Vision Sponge Relay
• Thomson Tug of War

VCHP aims to preserve, protect and promote the ocular health of homeless and vulnerable people in the UK who are unwilling or unable to access mainstream services available through the NHS. The charity include screening of ocular health and the provision of spectacles, to meet the immediate visual needs of our beneficiaries. Elaine Styles, VCHP chair, attended the event and presented certificates to the winners of each race. She said: “It was a pleasure to be invited to such a unique, energetic and fun way of raising funds for VCHP. We all appreciate the time, effort and energy, Mark and his team at ABDO devoted to organising this event and want to say a big thank you to our sponsors for their generous the ongoing support.”

ABDO College technician, Mark Turner, who organised the event, added: “It was great to get such support from the industry sponsors, staff and students for such a good cause. Everyone enjoyed the Decathlon, and we found some hidden talents amongst both staff and students!”

The top raffle prize of a visit to Eyecare 2020 was won by student Dilbir Dhariwal, with everyone winning something.

Thanks were given to Mark Turner for masterminding the event, ABDO College cook Mel for hotdogs and burgers for the hungry competitors, and to the ABDO College staff and students who donated raffle prizes, held the winning line and cheered on the teams.