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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.
Make a donation
You can donate in many ways, including cash, cheques, BACS, debit or credit card.
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grants made
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.
A new way to support the Friends
The Friends are delighted to announce that we have signed up to a new charity support organisation called ‘easyfundraising’.
The service is used by hundreds of charities across the UK, so far raising in excess of £70 million.
It is free for both the public and charities to use and if you’d like to help support the Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital when you shop online, then all you’d need to do is to simply sign up via the easyfundraising website and app.
11 June 2026
The 2026 edition of In Sight is out now
The Friends’ annual newsletter is packed with stories about our fundraising activities, the grants we’ve made to Bristol Eye Hospital, how patients have been helped – and info about how you can help us.
You can pick up a copy of In Sight 2026 in the hospital, or click the button below to read it online. Members of the Friends will receive a copy in the post.
22 April 2026
“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
From our archives
Guests at our 40th anniversary dinner in 2017 – an event that celebrated our past achievements and raised more money for future grants.
We’re already working on plans for our 50th anniversary celebrations in 2027!
