Fundraising gallery
Winchester Christmas Market 2011
Winchester Cathedral generously let us have the use of the Christmas Charity Chalet in Winchester on December 4th. Particular thanks must go to May Martin, Susan Symes, Helen Griffiths, Kat Carter and Brenda Lothian for making and donating items to sell. We had shifts of generous helpers serving on the day and many thanks to you all. The picture shows Angela and Emma Cree who covered the end of the day. A total of just over £400 was raised. (Photo: Courtesy Shaun Kara)
Matt, Prof and Kathy's Great South Run
Matt Watts, Professor Andrew Lotery, and Kathy Wallis ran the BUPA Great South Run on the 30 October 2011 and raised in excess of £4000 for Gift of Sight. Congratulations to you all for getting fit and staying the course. Many thanks for your amazing total which will be a huge help to Prof's research.
Presentation at Corhampton Golf Club
Alex Miller ended his year as Captain of Corhampton Golf Club with a presentation evening. After all the cups were awarded Alex, together with the Seniors' Captain, Pete Langrish, and the Ladies Captain, Margaret Collins, presented an amazing cheque for £7,500 to Ailsa. This was the culmination of a year of fundrasing by the Captains and members of Corhampton Golf Club. Further cheques are also in the pipeline and we would all like to pass our heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in the fundraising.
Walk the Test Way 2011
A good team turned out on Sunday and the above team walked the full 25.5 miles. A few aches and pains but all accomplished in excellent time. Many thanks to our team, Kate, Ailsa, Tracy, Steven, Mandy and Alex. Angela Cree, Heather Thomson and Martin Laidler walked 16 miles and the 'Longparish' team of John and Selina Musters and Peter Moore kindly walked 11 miles. Thank you all for your support.
Corhampton Golf Club Charity of Year
Simon Shankland, Director of Portfolios for Your Property Club, joined Alex Miller and Ailsa at Corhampton Golf Club to present a cheque for £5000. This represents his Company's sponsorship of the ProAm Charity Golf match to raise funds for Gift of Sight on the 12 September. We are very grateful to YPC for this tremendous gift and to Alex, who is Chairman of Corhampton Golf Club this year, for his ongoing enthusiastic support. Thanks to all club members, Jeanette Miller and Hants PGA for all their hard work on our behalf.
Freemason
A very generous cheque for £750 from the Tom Langton Fund was presented to Ailsa at the Bournemouth Masonic Group charity celebration evening on the 29 June 2011. The Bournemouth & District Masters Lodge was instrumental in obtaining this donation and added a further £150 from their funds. A private donation of £100 made the final total of £1000 to cover the cost of an Adjustable Couch for the new Clinical Trials Area in SGH. Many thanks to the Freemasons for their tremendous support.
L K Bennett
A total of almost £400 was raised by the L K Bennett fashion show. Many thanks to all the team at L K Bennett, Boudoiur Blush and Movers & Shapers for their hard work on the evening, together with the generous spending by our supporters and guests.
Jazz on the Farm
Juliette and Bill Spiller very kindly hosted a delightful Jazz Evening at their home in Minstead on the 26 June. Bubbly on arrival and music during the evening played by the New Forest Dixieland Band ensured a relaxing and enjoyable time for all guests to enjoy their picnic and a total of £3,000 was raised for Gift of Sight.
The Mayor of Southampton with Professor Andrew Lotery
Professor Andrew Lotery and The Right Worshipful Mayor of Southampton, Councillor Terry Matthews, at the Mayor's Courtesy Call in June 2011. The Mayor has kindly chosen Gift of Sight and Alzheimer's Research UK as the two charities he will support during his term in office.
Barker-Mill Foundation's generous donation
A generous donation of £5000 was received from the Barker Mill Foundation. Mr Tim Jobling, a Trustee of the Foundation, visited the Research laboratory to discover the details of our genetic and stem cell research. Left to right: Andrew Treharne, Tim Jobling and Professor Andrew Lotery.
Greta Paxton's fundraising evening
Greta organised a fun filled evening with the Southampton Inner Wheel Club as she has chosen us to be her charity during her year as President. The 'Soiree' comprised of music provided by Richard and Emma Scott-Copeland and a light buffet supper. The event was sold out and the evening was very much enjoyed by all who attended.
Scooting away from Land's End
A intrepid team undertook a scooter challenge to raise funds for Gift of Sight. Clive Mansell and his son Andy who run the Queen Inn, Winchester and the Fulflood Arms, Winchester organised the event which was supported by Draper Tools Ltd. and other local firms. The team left Land's End at 7.30am Monday 28th February 2011 and arrived at John O'Groats on Saturday 5th March at 2.22am, 'scooting' on a relay basis during the day and night. A tremendous challenge!
Christmas Concert 2010
Dr Philly Sargent and the Gift of Sight Events Committee organised a wonderful Carol Concert which took place in Winchester College Chapel on the 13th December 2010. We were delighted to be joined by Dame Mary Fagan, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Mr Alan Lovell, the High Sheriff of Hampshire, as well as many other guests. The evening, which included poetry readings by Wendy Cope and talks by Professor Andrew Lotery and Professor Lord Winston, was introduced by Canon Roger Job and the music was provided by Vox Cordis UK. Most of the service was held in darkness with the audience reading their programmes with pen torches to help them understand the difficulty of living with impaired or reduced vision.
Very many thanks to Philly and her Committee for their hard work in organising such a magical evening.
New Forest Rotary Club's Huge gift
Alan Blair, past President of New Forest Rotary Club, presented a very large and generous cheque for £10,000 to Professor Andrew Lotery and the Gift of Sight Research team. We would like to thank Alan and his fellow Rotarians for their tremendous hard work in raising a fantastic sum for ourselves and other Rotary charities. (Picture courtesy of Southern Daily Echo).
Sasha's turn to fall out!
Despite our initial jump day being curtailed due to cloud cover we all had our turn at our tandem skydive and raised in excess of £6,260. The team members were Pete Barton, Mary Beasley, Sasha Beechey, Chris Browning, Colin Elkin, Viv Gardiner, Keira Johnston, Rich Jones, Olly Knowles, Ailsa and Sarah (Squidge) Walter. Well done to all of you and many thanks to all sponsors and supporters.
Eye Unit team at GoS Ball 2010
Our Ball was held at the Legacy Botleigh Grange Hotel on a lovely, sunny 12th June 2010. Despite being held at the same time as the first World Cup Football match we had a good turnout with a successful auction, raffle and balloon prizes raising a total of £12,000. Dancing to 'Innervision' was enormous fun and we all had a wonderful evening.
Sue Boucher and Tony Harrison of Chichester Lions presenting a cheque for £2000
Chichester Lions are a huge support to Gift of Sight and we would like to make a very loud and public thank you for their tremendous help. A further donation of £2000 has been received (10th March 2011) which brings the total from them to a very welcome £9,000. This photograph shows a previous cheque for £2000 being presented to Professor Lotery by Tony Harrison and Sue Boucher of Chichester Lions Club in June 2008. The money is raised from the recycling of spectacles which are collected in bins in opticians and doctors surgeries all over the UK.
Professor Lotery receives prestigious award
Andrew Lotery, professor of opthalmology in the University’s School of Medicine, was presented with the Royal College of Ophthalmologists’ Nettleship medal for the best research paper produced in the last four years.
Richard Adams
Richard Adams was given a bronze rabbit at the 'Beating Blindness' Lecture in April to thank him for his tremendous support for Gift of Sight. The sculpture was kindly donated and presented by Mr Damon de Laszlo who is also a very generous supporter of our Appeal.
Susan Symes with a part of her button collection
Susan has collected buttons for many years and raises funds for Gift of Sight by inviting her friends to view her collection every other year. She also makes cards which she sells at various functions. Susan has generously contributed to our Appeal for a considerable time.
Fundraising trek to Machu Picchu in Peru
Angela Cree, Southampton Eye Research Laboratory manager, Ailsa Walter, a tireless supporter of the Gift of Sight appeal, Alex Macleod, consultant ophthalmologist, Professor Lotery and Jonquil Smart, a recently retired community nurse, on their final preparations for a fundraising trek to Machu Picchu in Peru.
Professor Lotery receives award
Professor Lotery is awarded 2006 Eyesight Charity of the Year by Optician Magazine