A YOUNG mother saw her baby for the first time thanks to people in Woodbridge and elsewhere sending out their old spectacles via the charity Vision Aid Overseas, to third world countries.

A YOUNG mother saw her baby for the first time thanks to people in Woodbridge and elsewhere sending out their old spectacles via the charity Vision Aid Overseas, to third world countries.

Notcutts' customers joined in the garden centre's 'Look Out Your Old Specs' campaign and brought in thousands of pairs of glasses to support Notcutts' latest recycling initiative.

Staff at the garden centre in Woodbridge stopped counting at 5,000 and last week saw Notcutts' Richard James handing over the specs to Vision Aid Overseas' director, Tym Marsh.

The campaign, which ran until the end of June and complemented Notcutts' garden shows theme for this year, The Sensory Garden, was run in conjunction with Vision Aid Overseas.

Notcutts urged people to look out their unwanted spectacles and donate them to help others. In return they gave 10 per cent off plant vouchers to anyone who brought in their old specs.

Tym Marsh, director of Vision Aid Overseas, said: "As anyone who wears glasses will tell you, spectacles are an important part of everyday life and without them they are lost. Imagine what a difference a pair of our spectacles can do for someone who lives in a less developed country and is suddenly given the gift of better sight.

"Most towns in Britain have several opticians but there is not one optician in the whole of Ethiopia. When our optometrists visited third world countries in 2001 they screened 14,133 patients and dispensed 10,159 spectacles."

Notcutts' Woodbridge garden centre manager, Nick Bugden, added: "Our customers were extremely enthusiastic about this campaign and glasses are still being brought into the garden centres."

Anyone who still wants to donate their old glasses can take them to their local optician or contact Vision Aid Overseas on 01293 535016.