Thank you
Draper Tools have been the kind sponsors of our annual fundraising ball since its inception in 2005, as well as providing very generous auction prizes on each occasion. We have also received a great deal of help and support with the printing of posters, tickets and other literature. John Draper and his team have taken a great interest in our research and we look forward to continuing our association with them.
The Land's End to John O'Groat's 'scoot' in February 2011, organised by Clive Mansell and his team of helpers, was greatly helped by Draper Tools Ltd. who provided a back up mini bus, huge moral support and two 'Draper boys' to scoot!
Heartfelt thanks to those of you who have organised events on our behalf. Pictures of some of our events are shown in our Fundraising Gallery.
Carol Concert at Winchester College Chapel on the 12 December 2011. We would like to thank Dr Philly Sargent and her wonderful committee for all their hard work in organising such a magical event and for raising in excess of £40,000. Thanks also to Timothy West CBE and Dame Harriet Walter who came along and gave very entertaining readings and to all other generous helpers who gave time before the event and on the evening.
Many thanks to all of you who joined us at La Dolce Vita on Sunday evening, November 6th, helping to raise funds for the Mayor's Charities. An extra huge thank you to Chris, the proprietor of La Dolce Vita, who very generously provided the meal and wine for the evening. This is a tremendous gift and the table magician was very talented and great fun! Thank you so much.
Professor Andrew Lotery has undertaken two events this year, his Salisbury Fast Twitch Triathlon in May and the Great South Run in October. He was joined by Matt Watts and Kathy Wallis on the GSR and between the team they raised over £4000. An incredible achievement and thanks to you all for your support. A team photo can be viewed via the above link.
Thank you to all our Rotary Test Way Walk team for their tremendous efforts in completing their individual challenges. The team have raised in excess of £1000 which is wonderful and huge thanks must be passed to all sponsors as well.
Alex Miller and Corhampton Golf Club. Many thanks to all involved in raising the tremendous sum of £8215.13 for Gift of Sight during Alex's year as Captain of the Golf Club. A fabulous donation which will help our work tremendously and thanks to all involved in the organisation of the PGA Golf tournament which was a major fundraiser. Please see a photograph on our fundraising gallery page.
Colin McArthur, a sufferer of Retinitis Pigmentosa has organised many events to raise funds to support adult eye stem cell research in our laboratories. A team of walkers from rpfightingblindness.org.uk undertook a 'Stride for Sight' sponsored 6 day, 72 mile walk around the Isle of Wight coastal path. The walk raised £14,000 and we must thank Colin, Linda and their whole team for such a concentrated effort and congratulate them on their stamina!
Liss Horticultural Society have forwarded funds to us following a Fun Day in Liss and have chosen us as their Charity of the Year in memory of Mrs Gladys Fletcher, who sadly died in 2010. This is a lovely way to remember her and we are very grateful for their support.
Hythe Wives Social Club named us as their Charity for the year 2010/2011. A very generous £366.75 has been received at the end of the year and it has been great fun meeting the ladies and joining in with some of their fundrasing. AMW
Southampton Inner Wheel Club presented a very generous cheque for £3000 to Professor Andrew Lotery on the 30 June, at the end of our year as their local charity. A further £1,500 has been received from their Benevolent Fund and individual donations of £165 have been received during the year. The grand total for the year is, therefore, £4,665. Many thanks to the outgoing President, Mrs Greta Paxton, for her friendship and ongoing support. It has been a joy working with such a fabulous team of ladies. AMW
Helen Waluga and her team at L K Bennett deserve a medal for organising such a wonderful Fashion Show at their flagship store in Winchester on the 30 July. Gift of Sight will benefit by 10% of the takings on the evening and this total will be advised when received. Thanks also to the models who gave up their own time to help out and to all guests who attended. Many thanks to Boudoir Blush and Movers & Shapers for also coming along on the night to share details about their products which added a further dimension to the evening.
Huge thanks to the Bournemouth Masonic Group who held their eight annual Celebration Evening on the 29 June 2011. Over £30,000 was presented to local charities at the event and Gift of Sight were grateful to receive £1,000 which will pay for an adjustable couch to be used in the new clinical trials area in Southampton General Hospital. £750 was awarded from the Tom Langton fund and two further donations made the final total.
Thanks to Juliette and Bill Spiller who held an entertaining Jazz evening at their home and raised £3000 for Gift of Sight and to all the guests who came along to make the evening so enjoyable.
Many thanks to the Trustees of Barker-Mill Foundation for a very generous donation of £5000 which is greatly appreciated. The Foundation very kindly supports many local charities.
Thank you to all speakers, helpers and guests at our recent Lecture. Many thanks to Novartis for their huge support.
| The Lecture was kindly supported by an educational grant from Novartis. Novartis had no input into the organisation and content of the event. |  |
Mr David Neale (Ralph Neale Opticians) who ran the Brighton Half Marathon on the 20th February 2011 in the really excellent time of 2 hours and 5 minutes. Congratulations David and many thanks for your support and for raising £398 for Gift of Sight.
Philly Sargent and her amazing Events Committee organised a fabulous Carol Concert in Winchester College Chapel on the 13th December 2011. The venue was beautiful and the music was absolutely stunning. A wonderful event and thank you all so much for your hard work. Thanks also to all th ekind donors who supported the event.
Jackie Davies is a patient of the eye unit at Southampton General Hospital and has been working on a voluntary basis to assist Ailsa for the last two years. Her practical help has been a tremendous boost and she has turned out in all weather to help at Car Boot Sales, walking the Test Way walk two years in succession, as back up at events and, most recently, organising our place at the Winchester Christmas Market and spending the day there. Her husband Ian and daughter Jennifer have also been a huge help. She has, however, decided to utilise her skills in other directions. We shall miss her and wish her luck in her future work.
Alan Blair chose Gift of Sight to be his charity during his year as President of New Forest Rotary Club. The Club have donated a massive £10,000 to help our work and we would like to thank the members for all their hard work in raising a tremendous sum during the year.
Test Way Walk team 2010. A fabulous thirteen walkers supported us on 10th October. All sponsorship monies have been forwarded to Rotary Romsey Test who organise the event each year and we shall post the total raised on the website when it is allocated in the New Year.
Caroline and Abbie held a cake sale to support Gift of Sight on Wednesday, 1st September in the Southampton Eye Unit and again on 8th December 2010. Many thanks to everyone who came along to buy some of the delicious cakes from the girls.
Gift of Sight Ball - thanks to: 'Innervision' for their fantastic music, Denis Bundy for managing the evening in his own inimitable style, Shaun Kara for some stunning photographs, Jackie Davies for helping me write letters asking for prizes, the Companies and individuals who kindly donated auction and raffle prizes and, of course, to all who attended to make it such a good evening.
TANDEM SKYDIVE TEAM - thank you all for being such good sports, great fun and fantastic company. We managed to raise over £6,250 (gift aid is still to arrive) but it was a huge effort and you're all wonderful. A
Professor Andrew Lotery's Salisbury Fast Twitch Triathlon 16th May 2010
Many thanks Prof for your hands on support of your Appeal. Your team spirit is catching!
The sum of £635 was raised at the Car Boot sale in Winchester on the 6th May, 2010 which was a great result.
Greta Paxton deserves a medal for holding another coffee morning and sale at her house in May and raising another tremendous sum.
Ian and Bridget Corrie Hill held a coffee morning and plant sale in their beautiful garden and, with their team of willing helpers, raised a fantastic amount for Gift of Sight.
A Concert was held at All Saints Church, Botley, SO30 2EA with Richard and Emma Scott-Copeland and the choir of All Saints Church. Thank you to all performers and the audience for their warm welcome.
A huge thank you to Ann Fenner for organising a carol singing session outside West Quay in the precinct in Southampton on the 17th December 2009, on a very cold but dry night. Thank you also to Conchord Singers for providing the voices and Emma Scott-Copeland for conducting and bringing along musicians and singers from Romsey. Collection buckets were 'manned' by a team including some of our researchers. A fabulous team effort for which we are very grateful.
West End Singers held a concert at The Point, Eastleigh on the 4th and 5th December 2009 and very generously held a collection for us after each performance. Thank you so much to all of you for a very enjoyable evening when I watched on the Saturday night.
Car Boot Sale on the 29th November 2009. We got very wet and were back home by 9a.m. although we did raise some money. Perhaps we shall be lucky enough to have nice weather if we are allocated the site again in 2010.
Congratulations to Jackie Tombs for raising £800 for Gift of Sight by running the Gosport Half Marathon on November. Having run through hail and torrential rain Jackie was relieved to get to the end of the run, wet but pleased!
Many thanks Marie and James Nelson for completing the Great South Run although Marie suffered a worse injury than last year and is now on crutches. We all feel that perhaps we should look for an easier way for her to raise funds. Well done for limping home and huge congratulations to James who made it in good time.
New Forest Rotary Club organised a Trafalgar Dinner at the Royal Southern Yacht Club which was a very enjoyable evening. Supper was followed with a very entertaining and informative talk by Commander John Sephton RN.
Ongoing thanks to Rethina Kier and the staff in the Short Stay Eye Unit at the General Hospital for their frequent raffles. Thank you also to all the Doctors, nurses and staff in the Eye Unit who are recommending 'thank you' donations made to them by way of thanks for their kindness be forwarded for our Appeal.
Many thanks to Mrs Rita Wye and the New Forest Women's Bowling Association for their hard work in raising a total of £1490.80 on our behalf. Rita held a Fashion Show, a cream tea in a friend's garden, raffles and table top sales to make this tremendous total.
Thanks to all who joined in the Rotary Test Way Walk. Seven team members walked the 26 mile distance (see Team Gallery) and Karen Allthorpe (a theatre sister at Southampton Eye Unit) and Jackie Roche (one of the receptionists at Draper Tools Ltd.) walked 13 miles and seven miles respectively. We shall let everyone know how much we made when the funds are in and counted. Many thanks also to the Rotary team for their tremendous organisational skills and support along the way.
Mrs Susan Harrison kindly asked for donations to our Appeal at the time of her recent birthday and has forwarded a very generous sum. Many thanks Susan, happy birthday and many more of them.
Many thanks to Brian and Jean Mackintosh for collecting funds for Gift of Sight at their recent party. The sale of conkers by one of their grandchildren (aged 7) shows true entreprenurial spirit!
Thank you to Alan Blair and Peter Clayton for their tremendous organisation of the New Forest Rotary Club Bramshaw Golf Day on the 10th September 2009. We would also like to thank Draper Tools Ltd., Mrs Carol Slark and Specsavers and Andy Steggall who all helped out with prizes for the day.
Heartfelt gratitude to Maggy and Dudley Parker who raised a tremendous sum for us on the occasion of their joint birthday party in August.
Many thanks to Nick and Chris for their tremendous courage in cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise funds for us. The money is still coming in but we anticipate a final total of around £4,000.
Thank you Susan and David for kindly opening your garden, on a chilly July afternoon, on behalf of the New Forest Rotary Club and Gift of Sight. As one of the benefeciaries for the Club's charity funds this year we are very grateful for your support. A huge learning curve into the intricacies of the model railway world. AMW 19.07.09
A huge thank you to Carol Slark (Director, Specsavers, Lymington) and her husband Andy for opening their garden on the 28th June 2009 and providing a hugely entertaining event. Also thanks to all the kind people who donated prizes and items for sale and to those who turned up to help on the day.
Thank you Rita and Magpie Clothing at Hythe for organising such a wonderful evening on the 29th May 2009. Great fun, lovely models, nice clothes and a tremendously supportive audience.
Many thanks to Richard Newsom (Paris Marathon) and Richard Eden (Shakespeare Half Marathon) who both ran for Gift of Sight and helped our fundraising.