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Welcome to Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital
Treatment for all patients has been greatly enhanced by our supporters.
For every £1 raised, we spend 95p supporting the hospital, 3p running the charity and 2p on publicity or raising funds.
Make a donation
You can donate in many ways, including cash, cheques, BACS, text, debit or credit card.
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Please click the button below if you’d like to look at recent editions of our In Sight magazine.
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grants made
If you are currently planning to visit an NHS hospital in Bristol or Weston, please see:
We recommend that you contact us by telephone or email (details in Contact). We work from home and post sent to us at the hospital may not be forwarded promptly. If you need to post anything, please call or email us and we will give you a home address. Thank you.
Emergency Department now have their own Thomson Test Charts!
The hospital uses Thomson Test Charts to check patients’ vision as an integral part of their examination in the Emergency Department.
We have purchased four Thomson Charts complete with mini PCs and 24″ clinical quality LCD monitors including infrared control and wall mounting brackets. We also paid for annual software support, installation and staff training provided by Thomson Software Solutions.
Prior to our purchasing these, the ED had to borrow charts from Outpatients. ED now have their own permanent charts.
This grant cost £6,868.
28 April 2022
New Privacy Screens in Emergency Department Treatment Room
The Friends have bought four mobile folding privacy screens for the Emergency Department treatment room. All patients who attend ED have to go through the treatment room. The new screens, which replace inadequate curtains, provide additional privacy for patients and allow more flexible use of the space available.
This grant cost £6,229.
28 April 2022
Thank you, Gail
In September 2021 Gail Glew, one of Bristol Eye Hospital’s ward nurses, completed 50 years’ service for the NHS in Bristol. She has dedicated her entire nursing career to the care of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust’s patients, so this truly is a lifetime achievement. Although the Trust does have long service badges, there is none which recognizes this extraordinarily long period of service. So BEH asked us if we would make a modest contribution to pay for food and refreshments to allow Gail’s colleagues to mark the occasion in a small and appropriately distanced celebration. We were delighted to do so and we say a heartfelt “Thank you!” to Gail on behalf of the Friends and all the patients she has cared for since 1971.
5 April 2022
“Everything I Can See”
Emma Don is exhibiting artwork entitled “Everything I Can See” at Cardiff School of Art & Design from 8 to 14 June 2022.
Emma is raising funds for Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital in thanks for treatment and care she has received for anterior uveitis at Bristol Eye Hospital since 2012.
“Eyesight is such an important sense for everyone, and this becomes even more so on receiving a diagnosis adversely affecting that.”
Emma specialises in 3D stop motion animation which is a very visual medium, but she plans to incorporate audio elements into her work to make it more accessible for the visually impaired.
24 March 2022
David Easty 1933-2022
It was with sadness that we learnt of the death in January 2022 of David Easty, for 27 years Consultant in Ophthalmology at Bristol Eye Hospital, the first Professor of Ophthalmology at Bristol University, founder of the National Eye Research Centre and Chairman of Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital from 2003 until 2009.
David was a member of the Friends from 1979 and a loyal supporter. We were honoured and delighted when, after retiring from a long and distinguished career in the course of which corneal transplant surgery was transformed, he became our Chairman. During his tenure he instituted numerous fundraising events and activities which increased our profile, doubled our revenue from such events and set a new standard.
A patient recently wrote: “David Easty was my corneal consultant for nearly 20 years and performed a complicated transplant on a congenital glaucoma eye. The care he gave me through a succession of post-operative problems was second to none. Nothing was too much trouble and he supported me through many crises. I felt we were in it together and that he wanted the better vision I craved almost as much as I did.” – a heart-felt tribute giving a patient’s perspective on David’s skill and care as a consultant.
We remember David with huge gratitude and affection.
23 March 2022
Friends' AGM 2022
Our Annual General Meeting was held online on Tuesday 10 May 2022.
Our Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 28 February 2022 were approved by the members. You may read or download a copy here.
24 March 2022, updated 17 May
New “hyperlegible” website typeface
For the benefit of visually impaired readers, this website now uses the Atkinson Hyperlegible typeface, which was recently developed for the Braille Institute of America.
The typeface is named after Braille Institute founder, J. Robert Atkinson. What makes it different from traditional typographic design is its focus on ensuring that individual characters cannot be confused with one another, ultimately improving readability. Also, the shaping of the letters is exaggerated to provide better clarity and the open areas of certain letters are expanded to provide greater distinction.
The Braille Institute has made the typeface free for anyone to use.
16 March 2022
Our new typeface makes it easier to distinguish characters that are commonly confused.
Fundraising at The Old Forge Inn, Whitminster
Following an operation at the hospital, Alex Sherman, the Manager of The Old Forge Inn in Whitminster near Gloucester, was so pleased with the care received at Bristol Eye Hospital that he organised a series of fundraising events at the Inn.
Despite events and numbers attending often being limited by the pandemic, he raised £318 (including Gift Aid).
22 December 2021
Wonderful service resumed
Wonderful Payments have resumed their service, which enables us to expand our range of donation methods.
You can:
DONATE BY BANK TRANSFER. We incur no charges for donations made by Open Banking transfers. Operated by Wonderful Payments.
DONATE BY CARD. Here you can also donate in honour or memory of someone; become a members of the Friends (if you wish), tell us whether and how you wish us to correspond with you or let us know of any particular reason why you are donating. Operated by Donorbox.
DONATE BY OTHER METHODS, eg Cheque, Cash or Text.
You can make a Gift Aid declaration under any of these.
16 July 2021, updated 26 July
In Sight
Our 2021 issue of In Sight is available from display racks in the hospital which also contain a leaflet describing how you can help the Friends or donate.
You can also view or download copies here In Sight.
In Sight is distributed to all members and supporters who want to receive it. If you would like a copy by post, please contact the Secretary.
12 July 2021, last updated 22 December
From our archives
A young patient admires the inmates of the aquarium purchased by the Friends in 2011 in the then-new children’s unit in the Outpatient Department on Level 1. The aquarium has been maintained by the Friends ever since and remains very popular with children.
