After a high profile UK launch in September, more than 200 British-Bangladesh restaurant owners joined the first phase of the ‘£1 on the bill’ scheme.
BRAC UK worked closely with the fundraising committee of 20 regional representatives and senior advisers to spearhead the campaign across the UK, recruiting restaurants, and maximising publicity for all those taking part.
The campaign ran for up to eight weeks in regions across country including Birmingham, Bath, Bristol, Carlisle, Oxford, Surrey, Kent, Portsmouth, Oldham, Rochdale, Manchester, Northampton, and Carlisle. Customers at participating restaurants were given the option of donating £1 per table at the end of their meal. Those not wishing to take part could easily opt out.
BRAC supplied each restaurant with discrete table cards explaining the scheme to customers and as well as DVDs, leaflets and posters for those wanting more information. A restaurant running the scheme for four weeks would raise at least £400. The simplicity of the scheme means that both the customers and restaurant staff can focus on their all-important dining experience.
In response to continuing interest in the scheme, a second stage will start in February with restaurants in regions such as Essex, Leicester, and Birmingham. For more information, please email [email protected]
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Chairperson and Founder of BRAC, and Dr Caroline Harper, Executive Director of Sightsavers, at the national committee launch of the £1 on the Bill campaign in September with leading British-Bangladeshi restaurateurs from around the UK. The event was generously hosted by Canary Wharf Group and Anokha Restaurants.
In the photo:Back row from left to right:Prince Sadik ChaudhuryMokhtar Hossain KhokonM. R. M. ChoudhuryShabbir Ahmed ChoudhurySyed Siddik AliTipu RahmanDobir MiahAbdus SalamDr. Wali Tasar UddinRuhi AhadRtn. Abdul Latif JPNaz IslamMd. Monchab Ali JPCllr Abdul HaridAzizur RahmanMuzahid KhanSyed Hasan AhmedM A AhadShamim AhmedAkikur RahmanHafizur RahmanShah F. AtharAbdul MalekRokib AliJessica Merton
Front row from left to rightPenelope MawsonSusan DavisCaroline HarperSir Fazle Hasan AbedSimone SultanaMary GarveyTanha HabibTanvir Ahamed
National roll out of ‘£1 on the Bill’
The discrete table card - designed by MediaLink - is clearly visible to the customers and compliments most restaurants modern decor.
Leading restaurateurs and local dignatories - including Mayor Jamie Lane - gather at Tamarind Restaurant to launch £1 on the Bill in Northampton region.
Regional representative, Cllr Abdul Harid, launched the Vision Bangladesh ‘£1 on the Bill’ campaign at his Dhaka Tandoori Restaurant with guest of honour, Mayor Barry Earp, and leaders from the restaurant industry.
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson of BRAC, with Aziz Chowdhury, owner of Anokha Restaurant, who hosted the fundraising committee dinner in September 2011.
Md. Monchab Ali JP, Dobir Miah and Muzahid Khan lead Vision Bangladesh ‘£1 on the Bill’ in the North West, North Wales, Rochdale and Manchester regions and have inspired more than 60 restaurants to take part.
Leading Asian restaurants in Surrey proudly handed over multiple cheques in December 2011 for Vision Bangladesh as part of their fundraising campaign for Vision Bangladesh in 26 restaurants. More events are planned for spring 2012.
Jubair Zaman (owner of Curry Inn restaurant in Cranleigh, Surrey) explained how he raised more than £400 in just over two weeks:
“We signed up for Vision Bangladesh’s £1 on the Bill campaign. We found that people were really happy to give £1 or more on to their normal bill. It was a simple way of raising funds for a really important cause.”
Events gallery
Birmingham business leaders and restaurateurs pledged to raise significant funds for Vision Bangladesh through £1 on the Bill scheme, local fundraisers, and corporate donations.
BRAC Managing Director, Enterprises and Investments, Muhammed A.( Rumee) Ali while on a visit to Birmingham helped promote £1 on the Bill.
Restaurateurs in Scotland launched ‘£1 on the Bill’ campaigns in both Edinburgh (hosted by Britannia Spice) and Aberdeen (Bollywood Tandoori).
Vision Bangladesh is launched at the Mirabai Indian Restaurant in Headington, Oxford organised by Regional Representative, Shabbir Ahmed Chowdhury.
Martin Horwood MP for Cheltenham supported the region’s launch of ‘£1 on the Bill’ at The Spice Lodge along with senior advisors and regional representatives.
Sightsavers Registered Charity Number / Reference: England, Wales and Northern Ireland: 207544. Scotland: SC038110 BRAC UK Registered Charity Number: 1115482
For more information on how to support Vision Bangladesh, and organise a fundraiser in your area, please email: [email protected]
About Vision BangladeshHelp restore sight to vulnerable poor people in Bangladesh
Vision Bangladesh is a groundbreaking partnership between BRAC and Sightsavers– two highly respected international charities.Our aim is to eradicate 80% of blindness in Sylhet by 2013 and across the whole of Bangladesh by 2020.
For more than 600,000 adults and 40,000 children, it is still not too late to have their sight restored and be given the opportunity to lead independent lives.
To realise this ambitious, but achievable task, we need to raise £3 million to perform 100,000 sight restoring operations in the division of Sylhet by 2013.
A simple 20 minute operation, costing only £20, can change a person’s life forever.We can only achieve this with generous public donations.
How to donateDonate online at:www.brac.net/visionbangladesh
Phone donations:+ 44 (0) 20 7922 7723
Cheque donations can be sent to:BRAC UK, Vision Bangladesh Appeal, 32-36 Loman Street, SE1 0EH
Please make cheques payable to: BRAC UK – Vision Bangladesh
Bank transfers/payments to: Account name: BRAC UK – Vision BangladeshAccount No. 62036991, Sort Code 40 07 13 (HSBC)
Donate by TextSimply text BRAC20 and the amount you wish to donate, (either £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10) to 70070(e.g. your text could read BRAC20 £10)
No network charges apply.
Your mobile allowance will not be affected.
Vision Bangladesh’s programme staff was proud to announce in January that they had reached the targets set for 2011 and were ahead of schedule in eradicating avoidable blindness in Sylhet Division by December 2013.
With the extensive rural outreach of BRAC’s community health volunteers combined with medical expertise of Sightsavers hospital partners, the programme was able to screen hundreds of thousands of poor people with eye problems and successfully treat nearly 39,000 cataract cases.
Our medical partners are trusted specialised eye hospitals, serving the most vulnerable members of society: VARD Eye Hospital (Sylhet and Sunamganj), BNSB Eye Hospital (Maulvibazar), Sylhet Adhunik (Chakshmu Hospital, Sylhet) and Hobiganj Adhunik Eye Hospital (Habiganj). Dr. K. M. Shahriar, Surgeon, VARD eye hospital, explained that
what makes Vision Bangladesh different from other initiatives is the sheer scale of its ambitions and its targeted approach:
“Vision Bangladesh is working with eye diseases that have a high prevalence in these communities. More than 80% of total blindness is reversible and due to cataracts, but can be cured by simple surgery. Most of the patients are identified in their homes by BRAC’s field workers. All the poor patients with this project have their vision permanently restored at no cost to them through just a single day in hospital. “
BRAC in Bangladesh is confident that the project will continue to stay on schedule to achieve its ambitious targets and would like to thank the thousands of UK supporters for all the generous donations that make these operations possible.
Target exceeded for 201139,000 successful operations completed
Jan-Dec 2011
TargetJan-Dec 2011
Achieved2011-2013
Overall Target
Number of cataract operations performed
30,000 38,700 100,000
Number of people screened 300,000 316,108 1,000,000
Health volunteers trained 1,800 3,222 4,344
Abdul Salam (48) was blinded in both eyes by cataracts and had to close his tailoring business in Balanganj, Sylhet Division. He is now back at work after successful cataract surgery, organised by Vision Bangladesh.
When I was blind I felt totally helpless. Now I can take care of my family again. Thank you!
