Mary Perkins running PR. She has admitted donning disguises and visiting Specsavers stores, posing as a customer. Perkins was made an honorary fellow of Cardiff University in 2005. The same year she received the "Rotary International Community and Vocational Service Award" for her services to charity and in 2006 won the inaugural Spirit of everywoman Award. Perkins was the first female optician in the UK to receive the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2007. The accolade was also in recognition of her other charitable work, including the Guernsey annual "Specsavers Liberation Tea Dance for
Mary Perkins pensioners", and her directorship of Women's Refuge and Age Concern. She was awarded the Spirit of Everywoman Award in 2006. She is also a patron to leading children's charity Kidscape In 2012 Dame Mary Perkins was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business from Plymouth University In February 2013 she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. In July 2015 she was made an Officer Sister of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. In October 2017, Dame Mary was honoured with