SPECSAVERS Park Centre has donated 100 hi-visibility vests to local primary school children at Donegall Road Primary School and St Oliver Plunkett Primary School to raise awareness of road safety during the darker winter months.
The donation coincided with Road Safety Week, which took place last month, an initiative designed to highlight the importance of road safety and the risks of winter driving and walking, especially as early morning and evening darkness makes visibility more challenging.
The hi-vis vests are part of Specsavers Park Centre’s ongoing efforts to keep children safe by ensuring that they are visible to drivers during their daily journeys to and from school. As the days shorten, these bright vests aim to improve visibility and reduce the risk of accidents in low-light conditions. When handing over the vests, the team at Specsavers Park Centre took the time to educate the children on essential road safety tips and the importance of staying visible when walking near traffic.
Phil Massey, principal of Donegall Road Primary School, expressed his gratitude:
“We are incredibly grateful to Specsavers Park Centre for their generous donation of hi-vis vests to help ensure the safety of our pupils during the darker months. These vests will be invaluable, especially as the evenings grow darker. It was wonderful to have the Specsavers team visit and share road safety tips with the children, reinforcing the importance of visibility on the road. These vests will continue to be used throughout the school year, whether on village walks or school trips, ensuring that our pupils are always visible and safe.”
Matthew McKenny, ophthalmic director at Specsavers Park Centre, commented:
“As a locally owned healthcare provider, we’re committed to supporting causes that have a positive impact on our community. We are proud to donate these hi-vis vests to local children and raise awareness of road safety during the winter months. In addition, we’re working with Road Safe NI to distribute resources across our stores, helping to spread vital road safety messages to drivers and pedestrians alike. We hope that these vests will play a small but important role in keeping children safe and visible during their walks to school.”
In a continued effort to promote road safety, all 23 Specsavers stores in Northern Ireland, including the Park Centre store, have partnered with local charity Road Safe NI to distribute their quarterly magazine in-store. The magazines are in-store now for customers to take home free of cost, providing timely advice from Specsavers’ local experts around eye health and its importance for safe driving at this time of year especially, but also all year round.
To learn more about Specsavers Park Centre or to book an eye test, please visit https://www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/belfastpark.
