How a visit to the opticians resulted in a two hundred mile cycle ride.

Local business Greenwood & Bell’s 200 miles in one day charity cycle ride will raise funds to help CBM carry out cataract operations around the globe. To celebrate ten years of Greenwood&Bell, owners Mark and Mandy Greenwood have organised a charity cycle ride. On 29 April, the Sea to See Charity Cycle Ride will cover two hundred miles on bikes in one day, from Hampshire’s South Coast to Norfolk’s North Coast. The money raised will go to CBM to help them carry out more sight-saving cataract operations incountries around the globeMark Greenwood tells the story of how the event was born. “Last autumn, my left eye was getting misty and beginning to affect my ability to work. The brilliant optician at Cecil Amey’s Norwich branch said I had a cataract which needed dealing with. She put me into the NHS system and eight weeks later I was at a local clinic having the operation.I know that not everyone is finding the NHS slick and efficient, but for me, it was magic. As soon as I sat up on the surgeon’s table, I could see well again.”This speedy, efficient and successful process forced Mark to confront the fact that not everyone in the world has access to such a fantastic service.
Mark continues “The marketing business I run with my wife Mandy, Greenwood& Bell, is ten years old and we wanted to do something to mark the anniversary. So we decided to organise a charity cycle ride to raise money for CBM so others have their cataracts sorted out.”
Mark and Mandy’s daughter Sarah Woodbury works at Christian Blind Mission (CBM ) in Cambridge, so they know what great work the charity do. CBM’s mission is help people with disabilities in counties such as Rwanda, Indonesia and Nepal. They have developed a particular expertise in taking mobile cataract operations teams to remote rural communities, helping
restore sight and changing people’s lives. CBM’s team can do a typical adult cataract operation for £24.
Mandy Greenwood says “We’ve set a target of raising £2400, enough to help one hundred people have cataract operations. We’re hoping people will sponsor us for £24, the cost of one operation or, to be honest, any amount they can give.”

The Sea to See ride starts on the South coast at Portsmouth, the target is to cycle the 200 miles to Hunstanton on the North coast of Norfolk in under twenty-four hours. Mark will set off at 4am on Saturday 29 April along with three friends who are doing the whole distance, others who will join for shorter sections and a large back-up team including Mandy Greenwood in the support vehicle.
Mark continues “We’ve had some great support from local businesses around Norfolk, especially Cecil Amey, the opticians who identified my cataract. They have really got behind Sea to See, thanks to them we will have CBM cycling shirts which are so bright our support team will be able to spot us a mile away!”
People can sponsor the Sea to See ride at  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/seatosee