The importance of charity at Boots Opticians

At Boots Opticians, we are committed to enriching the life of every person and this commitment to lives doesn’t just apply to our customers; it’s for our colleagues too.  There’s lots of reasons why working at Boots Opticians is fabulously rewarding, including;-

• We’re making a huge investment in capability to give every colleague the chance to reach their full potential
• Flexible working arrangements to help you balance your work and domestic responsibilities
• A wide range of career opportunities linked to our growing business, which includes regional and mobile clinical roles
• Market rate pay for all our colleagues to maintain our competitiveness in the industry and a bonus scheme that is open to all colleagues and rewards excellent business performance and personal performance
• All colleagues start with a generous 33 days of holiday per annum, including 8 bank holidays.  The number of holiday days increases with length of service

We also want every colleague that joins us to be able to feel that they are a part of their local community, and one way that this is encouraged is through our partnership with the National Literacy Trust. This partnership highlights the link between eye health and literacy and it is aimed at improving the literacy levels of the UK’s most disadvantaged children.

We know that good vision is the foundation for learning and we hope to open up the world of books to every child in the UK with the care, support and inspiration needed to improve their literacy skills. We hope for our legacy to be happier, healthier and more confident children, families and communities.

Each colleague at Boots Opticians is given two volunteering days per year, which we call ‘Enrichment Days’. This gift of giving back to the community means that our colleagues are able to make a valuable contribution to the lives of others. By joining Boots Opticians, you’ll be able to understand the community in which you work, including their individual needs and how best to deliver great customer care to every person. You’ll witness the worth of your work as practices are encouraged to partner with local schools, where colleagues are able to help educate children and their families on the importance of eye health and also encourage and support their literary development. You’ll also have fun as a team, sharing your stories and swapping ideas on how to make a difference in the local community.

Resident Optometrist Zarna Dasani and Practice Manager Charlotte Allen from Boots Opticians Oakham have been hard at work engaging their local primary schools. Zarna explains: “We did assemblies for each year group telling children what to expect from the eye test and we found it made them more relaxed when they came in to our practice for an eye check. Parents often don’t realise how important it is that we detect any potential problems with children’s eye health early. We asked the schools to send letters to parents explaining that every child can have free eye check on the NHS and it was really successful in raising better awareness.”

In addition to this, Zarna and Charlotte delivered classroom-based sessions to younger pupils and worked on making their practice child-friendly. “We filled the waiting room with books, fact sheets about eyes and information about literacy for children as well as putting games from visionmatters.org/sunbeams on the iPad. Over half term we also had story sessions in our practice where Charlotte read books to the children who were waiting for their appointment. It really helped to make the children and their parents feel more relaxed.”

There are lots of other ways to get involved too! You can walk, run, trek, cycle, hike or sky dive to raise awareness and funds for literacy as colleagues up and down the country take part in a variety of fun fundraising activities.

“We strongly believe that the optical profession has a big role to play in supporting young people in the UK with their education and literacy - especially those in deprived areas. Through our exciting new partnership with the National Literacy Trust, we will champion regular eye checks for all UK school children in a collaborative approach that supports the enjoyment of children’s education and literacy.”  Ben Fletcher, Managing Director, Boots Opticians

To see Boots vacancies please follow this link - http://jobs.opticianonline.net/employer/10002294/boots-opticians/