Fundraising Gallery
Rodney Mansbridge and his fellow Freemasons presented two cheques (each for £455) to Ailsa Walter at a Carol Singing evening at Kings Court, Chandlers Ford in December 2017. As usual it was a fun-filled evening hosted by Kings Court Lodge 8441 and with guests from Norman Court Lodge 4124. Many thanks to Rodney and Jenny Mansbridge for their ongoing help and support for our vision science research.
Vickie Lush baked and iced an amazing Christmas cake to raffle to raise funds for Gift of Sight. Tickets were sold around the Gift of Sight office in Highfield and was supported by many colleagues in the building. The cake raffle raised £110 and it was won by Jeanette Valentine, a member of the University Marketing team. This photo shows Shaun Williams, UoS Executive Director of Engagement and Advancement presenting the cake to Jeanette. She has reported back that it was delicious! Thanks for your further fundraising help Vickie!!
Bro Jon Whittaker visited the children's area of Southampton Eye Unit to present a cheque for £6000 to Mr Jay Self (Consultant Ophthalmologist) following a public vote as part of the Freemasons three hundred year celebrations. The funds will be used to purchase a new piece of imaging equipment to help diagnose young patients. This will also assist our academic team by providing data for research projects. We are always hugely grateful for support from the many Freemasons lodges and chapters in the Province of Hampshire & The Isle of Wight. They have donated on many occasions in the past and are good friends of Gift of Sight.
Thank you to everyone who voted for us, ensuring that this most recent gift will help our children's eye research.
Huge thanks to Vickie Lush for organising a quiz night with ploughman's supper in Shawford Village Hall at the end of October. Aided by a group of friends and family on the evening, Vickie organised meals for 120 people and, together with a bar and raffle, raised over £2000 for Gift of Sight.
Ailsa went along to help in the background and enjoyed the 'buzz' in the room. The quiz masters were amazingly professional and the whole evening was full of fun and laughter.
Thank you to you all!
Gina and Eve, Directors of Specsavers, Romsey, walked 25.5 miles with a fabulous team from their Branch walking to help children's eye research. We are hugely grateful to Specsavers for their continued support. Their team 'powered on' and reached Romsey when the rest of us were still wandering along! We're all really grateful for your help (and possibly a bit envious of your energy levels!)
A team of walkers including Marion (who works with young patients in SEU), Jane Hannifan, family and friends, Ailsa (GoS), daughter Kate with dog Agnes and a team from Specsavers Romsey all walked 25.5 miles on the Rotary Test Way Walk at the beginning of October. It was a glorious day and we all managed the whole distance. Sarah Saunders-Davies walked 11 miles and also raised a tremendous sum so we're looking to receive a figure with some £000's on the end when all donations are processed by Rotary. Thanks to everyone for their generous support for children's eye research.
Huge thanks to Helena, who is a clinican/academic researcher in our vision science team in Southampton, and Monica for also participating in the Southampton 5k Gung-ho event in June 2017. They have raised £400 to help vision science research projects and we are tremendously grateful for their support. Well done to you both on getting round the course on such a hot day and, again, thanks from all of us.
Well done to Janice and Tom who participated in an early 'wave' of competitiors who ran 5k and mountaineered over obstacles on one of the hottest days of the year. Janice works as an Administrator in the vision science laboratories and understands how vital our funding is to help move projects on and ran the race wearing one of our 'eyeball' costumes! Well done to both of you for raising in excess of your target. £230 plus Gift Aid has made a great total in excess of £270. Congratulations to you both and thanks from us.
Many thanks to Robert Mitchell, Rosie Bromfield-Young, Jack Aalen, Laura Aalen and Owen Wright who took part in a tandem skydive on the 21 May to raise funds for Gift of Sight. The date happily coincided with Rosie's birthday. After a delayed start the team took off together at 2pm. Unfortunately Jack was unable to participate on the day but we thank him and all the other team members for their fantastic fundraising. Sponsorship is still being collected but a final figure for the Skydive will be added to this page shortly.
Professor Andrew Lotery, his wife Helen, son Christopher with Savannah Lynn (one of our PhD students) and her finace Alec ran the Southampton ABP Half Marathon on Sunday 23 April 2017.
'Team Lotery' have raised almost £2000, with funds still coming in, with Savannah and Alec topping their target to over £400. Huge thanks to all patients, friends, families and Gift of Sight supporters who have generously donated on line to encourage the time. Your generosity is very much appreciated.
Jenny and Ed organised their participation in a Skydive on 1 April (!) to raise funds for Gift of Sight. This was Jenny's birthday and one she particularly wishes to acknowledge - what a generous way to do it! Ed is her nephew and signed up to keep her company. Friends and families made a party of it at Old Sarum and we are grateful to them for raising over £3000 for Gift of Sight.
Ailsa was pleased to attend a meeting of the Forester's Friendly Society Court No.5069 in April. Pat Swadling, the outgoing Chief Ranger, had chosen Gift of Sight as his charity for his year in office, and it is always a pleasure to meet up with groupls of people who have fundraised for Gift of Sight on previous occasions.
Pat decided to put the funds to support children's eye research as there are many critical projects being undertaken which will help these young patients in the future.
Jackie Davies organised and ran a cake sale and tombola in Southampton Eye Unit on the 3 April. Ably assisted by Lisa Skellon the event raised £416 to support research into children's eye disease.
Many thanks to Jackie for all her hard work and, of course, to Lisa for helping at the sale. Jackie's continuing support is very much appreciated by us all.
Louise signed up to raise £500 for Gift of Sight by running the Dewsbury 10k run. She has exceeded her goal and raised £631.40 which will be a tremendous help to our vision science research team.
Many thanks for your support Louise - we're all really grateful for your help.
Many thanks to the members of Freegrounds Coffee Group who meet in Hedge End on a monthly basis and who have been fundraising for Gift of Sight as their Charity of the Year.
Ann Smith presented a cheque for £450 to Ailsa, who gave a short talk on the work undertaken by our Vision Science group. It is always a pleasure to pass on details of our projects and to meet so many kind people.
Thank you all for your support for our work. Your kind donation is very much appreciated.
Jane has been actively fundraising for us for a whole year and has exceeded her ambitious target of £5000. Huge thanks to Jane, her fabulous circle of friends who have been fundraising for her, and her family. Husband Pete and sons Ed and Oliver have been a tremendous support and have been there for Jane all the way. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to join in with Jane's events and I know that we'll keep in touch.
Heartfelt thanks to you all.
Heartfelt thanks to the Directors of Specsavers, Lymington (David Macro and Neil Constantine-Smith) who are both hugely supportive of Gift of Sight. A cheque was presented at the time of the opening of the enlarged premises on the 16 July and was received by Mr Jay Self, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Southampton and Ailsa Walter (Gift of Sight).
The team at Specsavers, Lymington continuously fundraise for Gift of Sight and value the fact that translational research (from clinic to laboratory) will help patients to experience the opportunity of the latest treatments on offer in clinics.
Prof Lotery, Dr Hussein Almuhtaseb, Sara Kearsey and Sharon Ketley from Southampton Eye Unit were joined by Pete Dobson, who is related to a patient, to abseil down the Emirates Spinnaker tower on Sunday 19th June to raise funds.
Thank you all for being such great sports, facing a tremendous challenge and raising a huge amount for Gift of Sight. The money is still being counted so we'll add the total in due course.
