Join us for just £5 a year or support us in other ways.
Welcome to Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital
For every £1 raised, we spend 96p supporting the hospital, 2p running the charity and 2p on publicity or raising funds.
Make a donation
You can donate in many ways, including cash, cheques, BACS, debit or credit card.
Donations by Card
We are making some changes to the ways you can donate by using a Credit or Debit Card. These pages on our website are currently unavailable while we complete this work.
If you would like to donate by card during this short period, you can do so at Support Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital.
Alternatively you can donate by direct bank transfer or by other methods.
24 September 2023
In Sight 2023
Our 2023 edition of In Sight has been printed and distributed to all members and supporters who have requested copies (either by post or email).
Copies are available from display racks in the hospital and you can also view or download copies at In Sight.
21 April 2023, updated 11 May
Richard Markham stands down as a Friends' Trustee
We are sad to report that Richard Markham has stood down after serving as a trustee for seven years including four as Chairman. A Life Member of the Friends since 2002, Richard has supported and encouraged our activities since the charity’s earliest days. We greatly appreciated his increased commitment and contribution to the Friends after his official retirement from full-time consultancy at BEH, even while he continued to help the hospital by taking clinics.
We shall miss his wise counsel and deep knowledge and experience. We thank him profoundly for his support.
30 March 2023
Friends' AGM 2023
At our AGM on Wednesday 10 May 2023:
- Dinah Harrison stood down as Chairman.
- Kay McCluskey was elected as our new Chairman.
- Wendy Beatty retired as our Secretary and stood down as a trustee.
- Carole Brooke was elected as a new trustee.
- Members approved our Annual Report & Accounts for the year ending 28 February 2023.
11 May 2023
3D TV for Slit Lamp Training
Allied ophthalmology health professionals are increasingly responsible for clinical duties and care for our patients. It’s vital they are well trained.
Examination using a slit-lamp is the most fundamental aspect of eye examination. It is a complex skill – often taking a long time to train and become proficient. Using a slit lamp camera can teach basic skills in a matter of hours rather than weeks or months. BEH has a 3D slit lamp camera system which already has excellent feedback from allied health professionals, junior doctors, medical students, and others. The connection of this to a relatively inexpensive 3D television permits innovative, high definition, immersive training.
Patients can also benefit from this TV as they can watch back recorded videos of their examination to understand their eye condition better.
This grant cost £599.
7 March 2023
Improving room facilities
We have funded improvements in three areas of the hospital:
- The ground floor examination room can be very noisy when several patients are being examined at the same time. We have funded soundproofing so that staff and patients may hear each other clearly, which enables clinicians to obtain the correct information (and it’s more private). This grant was funded out of donations raised in memory of Graham Murphy.
- New worksurfaces and flooring in the Imaging Office, used for printing for oncology referrals, uploading oculoplastic imaging and exporting images for doctors, as well as for training and a staff rest area. We have created space for a new workstation and provided a much-needed uplift to the tired office which promotes tidy working and enhances staff wellbeing.
- New worksurface with lockable cupboards in the Orthoptic Adult Assessment Room. These allow patient notes to be kept safe and out of sight during clinics and provide safe storage of equipment and eye drops. The room is now more appropriate for clinical assessment and much more easily cleaned between patients – and there is more space in the reception area to reduce crowding.
The total cost of all these works is £10,066.
3 February 2023
Devoted to Bristol Eye Hospital
We are delighted to welcome Gail Glew and Jenny Ward as trustees. Gail and Jenny both retired from the hospital after a truly astonishing 51 years’ service each for the Bristol NHS Trust. Prior to her retirement in July 2022, Jenny attended our trustees’ meetings for many years (as the representative for all the nursing staff), advising us on grants and assisting with fundraising events.
As trustees, Gail and Jenny will continue to help us support the hospital. Their astounding loyalty, long experience and passion for serving the hospital’s patients and all things BEH will be invaluable.
As new co-opted trustees, both will serve until our next AGM on 10 May 2023, when they will stand for election by the Friends’ members.
27 January 2023, amended 31 March 2023
“PLEASE LOOK INSIDE”
We have a new promotional leaflet “PLEASE LOOK INSIDE” now on display in the hospital. The leaflet briefly describes what we do, with some examples of grants we’ve made. It also encourages people to join us, setting out different ways of donating and how to request information.
The leaflet also contains a loose stand-alone form to join or donate to the Friends.
9 November 2022
New “hyperlegible” website typeface
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.
Wonderful service
DONATE BY BANK TRANSFER. We incur no charges for donations made by Open Banking transfer using Wonderful Payments, or by BACS.
DONATE BY CARD. Operated by Donorbox.
DONATE BY OTHER METHODS, eg Cheque, Cash or Text.
You can Gift Aid your donation or, if you wish to become a member of the Friends, request correspondence from us or let us know of any particular reason why you are donating, perhaps in thanks for treatment or in memory of someone, you can do all these:
- online if donating by card or
- by completing a donation form, which you can download or pick up in the hospital.
16 July 2021, updated 8 September 2022
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.
