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Charity Race Night

We hosted a great evening at Churchill on 17 May 2019.

Many thanks to all our sponsors and supporters for making it such a success, especially:

The Kitchen Man for sponsoring the Event;

About Face, Cedar Wealth Management Ltd, Ince Metcalfes, Rachel's and Michael's Antiques, Saints Old Boys FC, David & Christine Froude, Richard Markham and Matthew & Alice Owen for sponsoring all of our 8 Races;

plus all those who named horses, attended on the night or worked hard to make it such a success.

22 February 2019 last updated 20 May 2019

Friends' AGM 2019

The Friends' AGM 2019 will be held in the

Board Room of the Bristol Eye Hospital

on Tuesday 21 May 2019

at 6.15pm

BEH Clinical Director and Consultant Ophthalmologist Abosede Cole will thank the Friends for their work over the last year and Consultant Ophthalmologist Cathy Williams will explain the benefits of two recent grants: the Forus Neo Portable Retinal Camera and the Corneal Microscope (see below).

The Friends' Chairman Richard Markham will review the work of the Friends over the last year and our Trustees' Report and Accounts will be presented for approval.

A copy of the draft Report and Accounts for the year to 28 February 2018 is on our In Sight page

Please note that the AGM will now be held in the Board Room and not the Lecture Theatre

16 May 2019, amended 20 May 2019

Confocal Microscope

We are delighted to report that we have made a grant of £45,349 to purchase and maintain a Confocal Microscope. This advanced microscope is used to diagnose microbial keratitis, of which acanthamoeba keratitis is one, and other conditions affecting the cornea. These conditions are devastating, painful and sight-threatening and can result in the loss of the eye.

The microscope makes contact with the patient’s eye (in the same way as a contact lens), so a local anaesthetic is used, but the patient must be awake during the examination. The patient sits in a chair as for a slit-lamp examination and the doctor can see the layers of the cornea right down to a cellular level.

Examination with this microscope will be much more comfortable for the patient than the current unpleasant invasive procedure of “scrapes” and will enable much better diagnosis.

Patients will be referred from all over the south-west of England & Wales for this procedure.

22 March 2019

New Bright and Cheerful Mural on Level 3

Since January 2019, visitors to Gloucester Ward have been welcomed by a large and colourful mural - commissioned by the hospital’s management, designed and painted by local artist Amy Hutchings and paid for by the Friends.

Amy was asked to create a colourful, vibrant and positive image illustrating Bristol Eye Hospital as central to eye health in the city. It also had to be robust and easily cleaned to conform to modern hospital health and safety standards. Amy’s design includes BEH in a skyline with green space, sky and water and uses primary colours more visible to the partially sighted and appealing to all ages.

Consultant Denize Atan commented “Hospitals are designed and decorated to meet pragmatic demands on space within a limited budget. Few hospitals have budgets to make spaces appealing, yet studies have shown that exposure to ‘greenness’ and natural environments may improve surgical outcomes. So we are excited to work with Amy to improve the hospital environment by decorating indoor spaces with outdoor scenes.”

The Friends were delighted to fund this project and we’re sure you’ll agree that it creates a much brighter and welcoming environment.

Other examples of Amy Hutching’s work can be found on Amy's website.

26 February 2019, amended 9 May 2019

In Sight 2019

A new edition of In Sight is now available in the Eye Hospital. You can also view or download a copy from our In Sight page. Copies will be distributed to members and supporters shortly.

We apologise for the delay in producing In Sight. We have been without a Publicity Officer for a year or so; but we are now delighted to welcome Kevin Abbey in that role and thank him for producing the new edition - our first since April 2017 - a bumper issue of 12 pages. We hope you enjoy it!

25 February 2019, updated 8 March

Ashcombe Park Bowling Club's Charity of the Year for 2019

Captain Martin Paterson said “As captain, I have the choice of which charity my club will support throughout the year. Many of our members, including myself, are currently undergoing or have received treatment at Bristol Eye Hospital. Therefore, to show our gratitude for all the treatment we have received, and after talking with Professor Sparrow, it was an automatic choice to support Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital”.

We have designed some new banners for the Bowling Club, based in Weston-super-Mare, to promote the Friends - in readiness for the new outdoor season which starts in April. These will be available for us to use at similar events in future.

In addition to promoting us at their many social events and indoor activities, including short mat bowls, the Club’s seven different teams play in various local league games and host games against visiting teams from all over the country. They also have a dedicated charity day where members dress up to a theme for a fun day of bowls. So lots of opportunities to raise funds for and to promote the Friends.

The club offers six weeks of free coaching for potential new members. If you are interested in playing bowls or joining the Ashcombe Park Bowling Club, there are full details on their website http://www.ashcombeparkbowlingclub.co.uk/

27 March 2019

Brenda Fearn

We are sad to report the death, on 18 January 2019 at the age of 79, of Brenda Fearn, formerly Sister in charge of Day-Case Cataract Surgery, Day-Case Children’s Surgery and Pre-Op Assessment, whom we are sure many patients will remember. Her career in nursing spanned 48 years of which the last 15 were at Bristol Eye Hospital. In the early nineties Brenda and her staff pioneered the practice of pre-op assessment; Brenda also initiated hostel beds on King Ward for day-case patients who lived alone - in those days, they were not allowed home on the day of their operation.

Upon her retirement in 2001 she became a trustee of Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital and served enthusiastically without a break until ill health obliged her to stand down in 2016. Her professional advice, compassion and common sense were appreciated by her fellow trustees and she was much loved and respected by all her colleagues. Consultant Ophthalmologist Cathy Williams says “I have been fond of Brenda ever since my first days as a very junior doctor when she was Sister Fearn and ruled the roost on the wards! She was unfailingly helpful, knowledgeable and funny. She always put patients first and was a joy to work with. I learnt a great deal from her and am one of the many people who will miss her friendship.”

Liz Annesley, Dinah Harrison, Simon St Leger-Harris, Elizabeth Treherne, Heather Walker and Jenny Ward (representing the Friends and the Bristol Eye Hospital) were amongst many at her funeral in St Peter's Church, Henleaze on Friday 22 February.

'Wonderful' replacement for MyDonate

BT’s MyDonate, our online fundraising and donation platform, is closing on 30 June 2019.

We have chosen ‘The Wonderful Organisation’ to replace MyDonate. This is live now. You can raise sponsorship, donate, purchase event tickets or make any other payments to us using a debit or credit card via our Wonderful page.

The Friends’ trustees chose Wonderful as they charge absolutely nothing to process payments. We and Wonderful believe that all sponsorship raised by fund-raisers, all donations and all Gift Aid should be paid to charities – without any deductions. The Wonderful Organisation is a non-profit organisation funded entirely by like-minded, philanthropic businesses and makes no deductions from any donations or Gift Aid. That's what makes them Wonderful!

Wonderful are sponsored by The co-operative bank, aws, twilio and WHYPAY?

We are notifying our supporters, who have used or currently use MyDonate to raise funds or donate to us, that this service will close on 30 June. Donations or payments to us via MyDonate can still be made until that date (which, together with any corresponding Gift Aid, may be transferred to us after that). Donors are invited to switch to Wonderful instead. Wonderful cannot currently accept regular donations.

We thank MyDonate for their excellent service provided at negligible cost over the last six years.

15 February 2019, last updated 8 May 2019

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

GDPR requires us to protect personal data, inform supporters what data is held for them, how it is used, and how it can be viewed, amended or deleted. We have written to all Members, supporters and volunteers setting out how we comply with GDPR. Our updated Privacy Policy can be viewed on our 'In Sight' page.

If you have not heard from us and wish to be contacted, or if you require any further information about our stance on GDPR, please contact the Secretary.

17 May 2018

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