Michael, a long-serving member of the board of trustees who sits on our governance committee, will cycle three times between his home and Canary Wharf, a distance of around 22 miles each time, on the morning of Friday 8 December. He plans to raise at least £60 for our anniversary year, and hopefully a lot more.

Michael is no stranger to a long-distance bike ride, having cycled 70 miles to raise funds for the Friends to mark his 70^th birthday a few years ago. He’s been preparing for his ambitious journey with a series of shorter rides, in a variety of weather conditions!

You can support Michael through his JustGiving page.

Almost 200 people registered for the event, which celebrated this milestone year by bringing together speakers from Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Friends of Moorfields to explore recent developments in eye care, from the latest scientific developments to new ideas for making the experience better for patients. The day was aimed at patients and their families and carers, helping them to stay informed about innovations that could transform their future care.

The morning opened with a welcome from Friends of Moorfields Chair Tim Hutchings, looking back on the history of the Friends and highlighting key achievements. The next few sessions featured: Moorfields CCIO and Director of Digital Medicine Pete Thomas discussing digital medicine, including how general digital tools like virtual reality headsets or smart phones can have surprising uses in eye care; Oculoplastic Nurse Consultant Dr Nicola Dunlop exploring recent research into caring for Benign Essential Blepharospasm; Consultant in Public Health and Ophthalmology Parul Desai giving an overview of how data can inform and improve eye care; and Moorfields Medical Director and NHS England National Clinical Director for Eye Care Louisa Wickham taking a look at the eye care picture around the UK. The presentations were followed by a panel featuring all of the speakers, and facilitated by Moorfields Associate Director of Excellence Delivery Victoria Moore, with an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

The afternoon session focused more closely on the Moorfields context, with: Friends Volunteer Service Manager Natalia Tomashpolskaya giving an overview of the volunteer service; Friends Chief Executive Angela Smith with a deep dive into the positive impact on patients and staff of handholding volunteers; Patient Safety Partner Chris Telesford, Chief Nurse and Director of Allied Health Professionals Sheila Adam, and Director of Quality and Safety Ian Tombleson sharing the latest thinking around improving the patient experience; and Consultant Ophthalmologist, and Chair of Moorfields Arts and Heritage Committee Raj Das-Bhaumik giving an overview of arts and heritage around Moorfields.

Sandra and her grandson Samuel raised funds for our £60 for 60 years campaign by selling delicious homemade cakes in their local community.

The hardworking duo raised over £100 on the day, and Sandra raised a further £160 with a separate cake sale a few weeks earlier.

Thank you so much for your support, Sandra and Samuel!

If you’d like to take part in our £60 for 60 years fundraiser, find out more here.

When our 60^th anniversary year began, we heard from lots of supporters and Moorfields patients who had fond memories of the Friends of Moorfields and our work – but we were delighted and surprised to hear from a patient whose association with Moorfields began before the Friends of Moorfields existed at all!

Sandra first became a Moorfields patient at the age of 15, following an injury while riding her bike. “I was cycling home from school when a person in a parked car opened their door and knocked me off my bicycle. Within a few days I had a black shadow in my vision in my right eye. My GP sent me to the eye clinic at Ashford Hospital, the specialist checked my vision and insisted I went straight to Moorfields as it was serious. I remember my uncle drove me there with my sister accompanying me. I was seen straight away by a doctor and given lots of drops to dilate my pupils and enable them to see the backs of my eyes. The doctor had a light on his head and held a magnifier over my eyes to check the back.”

Sandra was diagnosed with a detached retina and admitted. “I spent three weeks lying flat on my back and staying as still as possible. This was to avoid any fluid build-up under the retina and to keep it flat. After three weeks I had Light Coagulation Treatment (an early form of laser treatment) which sealed the retina back in place. Sadly, after a few weeks I was back to square one – the retina had detached again. Back at Moorfields I saw Mr Fison – he was wonderful. He explained I would need surgery this time and so I was admitted again.”

Following her surgery, Sandra was transferred to Moorfields Highgate to recover. “It was a lovely old house with huge fireplaces and a garden. We also had occupational therapy there, I remember making a basket still with my eyes padded up. The operation was a success and I returned home.”

Some months later, Sandra was offered contact lenses, and attended the contact lens clinic for many years afterward, under the care of Mr Montague Rubens, and later Mr Guillen and Dr Woodward. In her 40s she had cataract surgery to both eyes, at Moorfields City Road.

“The result for me was amazing as I no longer needed my contact lenses and for the first time when I woke in the morning I could see around me clearly. I remember going home on the tube and reading the list of stations on the platform. I was delighted. Since then I’ve had annual check-ups in Clinic 12 and more recently at the Medical Retina and Diagnostic Hub every six months.”

Sandra’s relationship with Moorfields Eye Hospital began shortly before the Friends of Moorfields were founded, and over the years she’s had the opportunity to watch us grow from strength to strength alongside the hospital itself. “I’ve seen many changes,” she told us, “from ladies selling knitted items off trestle tables to the Friends of Moorfields Shop. Bright, airy, colourful clinics and wonderful support teams.”

To help us celebrate our 60^th anniversary, Sandra took part in our £60 for 60 years fundraising challenge – we asked supporters to do anything they chose to raise at least £60 for us in this special year. Sandra decided to get family and friends to sponsor her to do a six-kilometer walk.

“I started at the Air Forces Memorial on Egham Hill. We walked down through woods to the bottom then along Langham Pond, through flowered hay fields on to the Thames. Then back up the hill via the willow sculptures on the meads, climbing up to and passing the Kennedy memorial and returning fairly puffed to our start point!”

Thanks to generous sponsorship from her family and friends, Sandra raised an incredible £325 for the Friends of Moorfields.

“I’m so grateful for all the treatment I’ve had over the years and will continue to support Friends of Moorfields in the future,” said Sandra.

Thank you so much Sandra, both for your fundraising efforts and for sharing your story!

Join us on Saturday 16 September for an exciting fundraising challenge with dramatic views across London!

A team of staff, volunteers and supporters will be climbing the O2 dome to raise funds towards our services at Moorfields. The climb is exciting but very safe and doesn’t require any special training.

If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with us!

Isabel Dennett joined the Moorfields nursing team in 1956, having trained at a general hospital. She began as a nurse and later became a sister. At the beginning of her career, she lived in nurses’ accommodation in Gloucester Road, and was transported to work each morning by a coach that picked up all the nurses.

Following her retirement after a distinguished 32-year career at Moorfields, Isabel gave her time and energy to volunteer with the Friends of Moorfields for more than 20 years. The team of volunteers organised and ran fundraising sales around Moorfields. Through these sales of books, bric-a-brac, jewellery, clothes and more, Isabel along with the team of volunteers helped to raise more than £25,000 for the Friends over the years. Isabel also enjoyed the social side of volunteering, making many friends and enjoying volunteer outings.

Isabel retired from volunteering in 2018, but has kept up with developments at the Friends of Moorfields. Recently she helped us mark our 60^th anniversary by holding an afternoon tea for her family on the weekend of the King’s coronation, to raise funds for our £60 for 60 years challenge. Thank you so much for your continued support, Isabel!

One pair of dolls depicts a handholding volunteer with a patient in theatre. Our specially trained handholding volunteers support patients before, during and after surgery by offering reassurance, company, and a hand to hold if wanted. A report by Helpforce showed that patients who are accompanied by a volunteer feel less anxious and more at ease than patients who are not.

As a handholding volunteer herself, Brenda was inspired to create the dolls by her experience at Moorfields. As one of our most experienced handholders, she has first-hand knowledge of what a difference this service can make, especially to patients who are nervous on need a little extra one-to-one support. These wonderful dolls are on display now at the Friends Shop at Moorfields City Road, and can be purchased for £14 each.

Meeting and greeting volunteer Jackie, who has been volunteering at the Potters Bar clinic for just over a year, baked muffins, brownies, flapjacks, cookies and more to sell in the clinic’s waiting area, as part of our £60 for 60 years fundraising challenge. Jackie was assisted by Clinic Manager Valerie, Friends of Moorfields Senior Volunteer Support Officer Liam and fellow volunteer Anne.

The sale took place on Monday 22 May, and business was brisk all morning, with many patients and visitors donating a little something extra as well as buying cake.

“The event was a huge success,” said Liam. “We’re so grateful to Jackie for all her hard work baking, to Val for all her support with organising this event, and to all our volunteers at Potters Bar who do such a fantastic job every day.”

With the summer fast approaching and thoughts turning to holidays, we’re inviting our supporters to take part in a fun challenge to spread the word about the Friends of Moorfields across the world, as part of the celebrations marking our 60th anniversary year!

Taking part is easy – just visit our shop, in person or online, and buy one of our useful and stylish branded tote bags.

Then, when you next go on holiday, take a photo of yourself and the bag – perhaps with a local landmark! Whether you’ve travelled 50 miles or 500, we want to see where you’ve been with our bags.

Once you have your photo, send it to us or tag us on social media using the hashtag #FriendsAroundTheWorld. We’ll share your picture on our website as well as in the shop at Moorfields City Road, so that everyone can all see our logo making its way around the world.

Check out our news page to keep up with this challenge, as well as updates on our other activities!

Sophie, who has been volunteering with us at Moorfields City Road for the last three months, wanted to do something more to support our work as well as taking on a personal challenge to improve her fitness.

Sophie’s attempt began on 1 May and she’s already making excellent progress, running 12 miles in the first 7 days.

“I’m trying to do my best to stay ahead of schedule!” she told us during the first week. “The runs so far have been enjoyable, luckily we’ve had good weather recently. It’ll get tougher as the days go on of course, but I’ll remember the reason why I’m doing this to keep motivated.”

She’s already smashing past fundraising goals too, having reached and surpassed the £60 mark already, with plenty of time still left. The money raised by Sophie, and others taking on challenges to support us this year, goes towards our work supporting patients and staff at Moorfields, including services like the Health Information Hub, which provides accessible, non-medical, Moorfields-approved information, signposting and support for patients and carers.

You can check on Sophie’s progress at her JustGiving page.