AN OPTICIANS has reached its goal of collecting more than 1,000 pairs of old and unused glasses for charity. Specsavers' Launceston store asked its customers to bring in old pairs of glasses for charity Vision Aid Overseas (VAO). Store director Julia Peggs said: "We had a donation bin, which took pride of place in store. "We would like to say a massive thank you to the people of Launceston for coming in and donating their old and unwanted specs, we are really pleased to have achieved our goal. 'The collected specs have been boxed and donated to VAO for recycling. The charity uses the money it makes from selling the reusable materials to fund its work in developing countries." Victoria Cox, international programme officer for VAO says: "We are really thrilled with how many pairs of glasses the people of Launceston have donated. "It's such a worthwhile cause as this is not only preventing specs from ending up in landfills but also raising vital funds for our overseas programmes." For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week's edition of the Post.