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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, 2p running the charity and 3p on publicity or raising funds.
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You can donate in many ways, including cash, cheques, BACS, debit or credit card.
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To contact us, we recommend that you telephone or email (details in Contact). We all work from home and post sent via the hospital can be delayed. If you need to post anything, please call or email and we will give you a home address. Thank you.
“In gratitude for the first-class treatment”
We have had a number of recent donations that have ranged from £100 to several thousand pounds from patients wanting to say thank you for the care they have received in the eye hospital.
A recent letter, typical of many that we receive, which was accompanied by a donation of £100, explained that the donation was “in gratitude for the first-class treatment received from the eye hospital’s staff.”
It is so lovely for the charity to receive these letters and the donations that often accompany them.
The Friends also take great delight in passing on the lovely ‘thank you’ comments to the hospital’s staff.
30 January 2026
Farewell to eye consultant Richard Haynes after 25 years
Richard Haynes came to Bristol Eye Hospital in 2001 as a consultant specialising in vitreo-retinal surgery.
In almost 25 years he has carried out a very large number of successful operations, trained a whole generation of vitreo-retinal fellows and published upward of 50 scientific papers.
He is now moving to Truro, partly for family reasons and to augment the retinal surgery service provided by one of his previous fellows.
His calm and methodical approach in the clinics has been greatly appreciated by his many patients.
We wish him very well. Bristol’s loss is Truro’s gain!
29 January 2026
Over £1.9 million given in grants to BEH
The Friends were formed in 1977 with the aim of providing support for Bristol Eye Hospital in two main areas – amenities for the patients and staff, and medical equipment that was beyond the purse of the NHS.
By 2010, 33 years after our foundation, we’d been able to give a million pounds in grants, thanks to the many generous bequests and other donations we’d received, as well as the success of our fundraising events and the sale of Christmas cards. Just 16 years later, we’re approaching the two-million mark.
7 January 2026
Generous donation from Wrington Vale Rotarians
Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital gratefully acknowledge a new donation from the Rotary Club of Wrington Vale. They have given to the Friends five times since 2013. The total amount donated has now topped £5,000.
The club has a rural catchment area covering nearly a hundred square miles east of Weston-super-Mare, approximately centred on the Mendip Spring Golf Club, where members meet every Monday evening.
The Friends rely on donations and bequests so that we can help the hospital by purchasing much needed equipment and services that are outside the limitations of the NHS budget.
22 December 2025
Claire Ellis – a new trustee
We’re delighted to welcome Claire Ellis as a trustee of the Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital.
Claire explained she’d wanted to find a way to say a ‘thank you’ to the hospital for all the help given to her partner Ian by the staff of the Bristol Eye Hospital.
“Volunteering to become a trustee of the Friends seemed an excellent way to do that and hopefully help others in the future,” she explained.
21 November 2025
New waiting room chairs
We recently paid for new seating in the level 1 waiting area at Bristol Eye Hospital. Senior staff nurse Emma Sudol told us that replacements were “desperately needed” as the area’s old chairs were worn and torn.
Made in Britain by Ocura Healthcare Furniture, the new chairs have antimicrobial vinyl coverings and an ergonomic tub shape that provides an elevated level of comfort and support, which is especially appreciated when patients have to wait a while to be seen.
This grant cost £2,381.
24 October 2025
From left to right: Lona Jawaheer, Richard Haynes, Sid Liyanage – all consultant vitreo-retinal surgeons from Bristol Eye Hospital.
West of England retinal surgeons’ conference
The Friends were delighted to be able to support this major event, held in the Bristol Aerospace Museum and organised by the Bristol Eye Hospital’s leading retinal surgeons.
The event gave the Friends’ trustees an excellent opportunity to network with leading medical figures and to spread the word about the work the charity does.
Doctors attending the event were particularly interested to learn more about how we raise money to help the hospital and hear of some of the equipment that the charity has provided.
17 October 2025
Vantage Plus LED Indirect Ophthalmoscope
We recently paid for two indirect ophthalmoscopes, which are used to gain better imaging of eyes, particularly within paediatrics, to diagnose a range of different conditions. The Vantage Plus is the best device of its kind, providing 3-dimensional stereoscopic views of the retina through all pupil sizes, making examinations faster and easier.
One headset was for the paediatric clinic in Weston General Hospital, where the original version had been condemned by the hospital’s repair services. The second device will be used in the pre-op assessment unit.
This grant cost £6,970 for the two devices.
15 October 2025
B-Scan Plus portable ultrasound diagnostic kit
We recently paid for a new B-Scan Plus to replace an old, faulty and “temperamental” predecessor.
Laura Barber, Ophthalmic Nurse Practitioner at the BEH, writes: “We are now fully up and running with this equipment, and the doctors are extremely pleased with its performance. It has already made a significant difference in our ability to provide timely and accurate diagnoses for our patients, particularly in emergency situations. Your continued support truly enhances the care we can deliver, and we are very grateful for everything you do for us.”
This grant cost £9,520.
25 September 2025, updated 10 December
Video for patients undergoing macular surgery
A patient who had recently undergone macular surgery told staff that it would have been helpful to have more information about what to expect after such complex surgery.
Believing that future patients having this surgery would benefit, he drew diagrams of the procedure and sent them to the surgery team. The team engaged the NHS Medical Illustration team to see how best they could be used.
The illustration team said they could use them as part of an animated video that could then be shown to patients and asked us to fund that, which we of course agreed.
8 May 2025
Takagi motorised chair for vitreoretinal treatment
We have replaced an ophthalmic chair which had broken beyond repair. This vital equipment is needed to ensure that patients are in the correct position for vitreoretinal injections.
It was requested urgently and we responded immediately. It was being used for patients on the day it was delivered to the hospital and is in constant use to provide vision-saving treatments for 30 patients per day, 6 days per week.
This grant cost £5,576.
11 March 2025
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.
