Our President, Patrons and Advisory Board
President: Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire Dame Mary Fagan DCVO
We are delighted that the Lord-Lieutenant has agreed to be recognised as President of the University of Southampton, Gift of Sight appeal. Dame Mary has supported the Gift of Sight appeal for many years. She has twice visited the research laboratories at Southampton General Hospital, as well as attending a carol concert at Winchester Cathedral in aid of the Gift of Sight appeal. Being President of the appeal complements Dame Mary’s other interests in ophthalmology, particularly with her long-standing involvement with the St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital.
The Lord-Lieutenant is involved in numerous community projects, medical and charitable bodies, both as Chairman and a member of the Managing Boards. Dame Mary also maintains a keen interest in all aspects of life in Hampshire, including education, commerce, industry, the armed forces, and voluntary organisations.
Our Patrons
We are very proud to have such involved patrons.
Mr Adams and Lord Sandberg are both sufferers of age related macular degeneration and are determined to help us provide treatments for those whose lives will be affected by this condition in the future. Lady Montagu and Mr Damon de Laszlo are very supportive of Professor Lotery's work and we are grateful for all the help we receive from them.
Richard Adams – author of Watership Down
We are grateful to both Richard and his wife Elizabeth for their active involvement in our work. At our recent Gift of Sight Lecture Richard was presented with a bronze sculpture of a rabbit as a token of our esteem for him and his wife and their continuing help with our appeal. The rabbit was cast by the late Peter Robinson and presented to Richard by Mr Damon de Laszlo. 5th May 2009
Lord Sandberg of Passfield CBE
The support of Lord Michael Sandberg CBE has been vital in the growth of the Gift of Sight Appeal. It is through his most generous donations that we are able to progress with our stem cell research programme.
Lady Montagu of Beaulieu
Lady Montagu is a philanthropist, dedicated to the future of Humankind, and is eager to support our work towards prevention and cures for blindness. As well as being a Director of Beaulieu Enterprises Ltd. Lady Montagu was appointed as first Global Ambassador to the Club of Budapest, is an International Adviser to Nobel Peace Laureate Betty Williams' World Centres of Compassion for Children and holds many other charitable posts.
Damon de Laszlo DL
Damon de Laszlo is an industrialist with interests in many companies in both Europe and the United States.
He is a Patron of the Treloar Trust, having previously been a Trustee and Chairman of Fundraising - Treloar School and College in Hampshire is for severely physically disabled children. He is also Vice Patron of the Tall Ships Youth Trust and Patron of Gilbert White’s House and the Oates Museum. Damon is a Trustee of World Wide Volunteering – a charity working with volunteers around the world.
His main interest is in ancient rock art and he has visited sites across the world from Easter Island to Outer Mongolia with the Bradshaw Foundation.
Mr de Laszlo is a Deputy Lieutenant in Hampshire.
Our Board
Gift of Sight has a voluntary advisory Board which meets four times each year. The Members are as follows (in alphabetical order):
Mr Alan Blair MBE
Professor Andrew Elkington CBE
Mr Malcolm le Bas
Professor Andrew Lotery (Director of Research)
Mr Andrew Luff
Mr William Organ (Chairman)
Mr Michael Sanders
Dr Phillippa Sargent
Dr Jay Self
Mrs Juliette Spiller MBE
Mrs Ailsa Walter (Secretarial and non-voting)