I have been a volunteer at Moorfields at Potters Bar for three years. A friend who already volunteered there told me about the role, and it sounded ideal for me.

I’m always busy and enjoying myself – on a typical day I could be doing lots of different things, but one of my duties is handholding so if there’s a lot of demand, I tend to be focused there. Otherwise, I help out generally in the cataract surgery clinic, helping patients complete questionnaire forms, helping them make telephone calls to their family after their appointments, booking cars for them or walking with them to reception to be picked up. I sit and chat with nervous patients, and I have been told by the clinical team that this makes a real difference. If I’m not helping patients, I help the nurses in the recovery room with admin tasks and replenishing the cups and refreshments.

In May 2023 I also arranged a cake sale for Friends of Moorfields’ 60th anniversary.  I baked most of the cakes and my fellow volunteer Anne and nurse Filomena also contributed to the homemade stand. Liam, the Friends’ senior volunteer support officer, came with a credit card machine and we managed to collect nearly £200! I hope to arrange another cake sale soon!

I was born with sickle cell anaemia, a blood disorder, and I was hospitalised on and off from 19 months old onwards. In my early thirties, I had a serious bleed – a haemorrhaged retina – which was treated at Moorfields. Ten years later, the same thing happened but in the other eye, so severely that I only had a tiny pinhole of vision in that eye.

I had surgery to correct the problem at Moorfields, in Mackellar Ward, where Mr Gregor’s team operated on me. After a couple of weeks, the vision in the affected eye was already coming back. It had been a really hard time for me, so it was overwhelming suddenly being able to see well again.

I started volunteering because I wanted to give something back. The guys at the investment bank where I worked had seen me going through my surgery and wanted to help, so I found an envelope and told everyone to “just put in a penny”. By the time I went back to Moorfields for my next follow-up appointment, the envelope was pretty heavy. I took it to the Friends office to make the donation, and I asked if there was anything else I could do to give back. So I started running fundraisers at work. I arranged snooker tournaments and bowling tournaments and events.

I had to give up work suddenly at 53 when my health deteriorated. I’m a really outgoing person and work was a big part of my life so it was a big loss, but I kept up my volunteering and that helped me a lot to keep my sense of self. I’m a chatter, I’m a helper, a smiler, a positive person.

My role now is mainly marshalling and guiding. A lot of patients are sight impaired, so I’m helping them to different clinics all around the hospital – sometimes they need to go to a few different parts of the building so we’re up and down in the lifts. I usually get in early because I have to get away after a few hours to take medication. An average day is busy and challenging and I love it. I always have a smile on my face. I’ve also done fundraising at a couple of tube stations lately, which is nice in the summer months!

I recently reached my 25-year anniversary of volunteering with Friends, and I felt so proud to reach that milestone. Having been a sick child, in and out of hospital from 19 months onwards, it’s just nice to give back to something to the NHS because it’s been such a part of my life, and I love it every minute.

To learn more about volunteering like Basil, visit our Volunteering page

On Sunday 23 June, Moorfields Eye Charity celebrated ten years of Eye to Eye, their fundraising walk with a route starting from right outside Moorfields Eye Hospital at City Road, and taking in landmarks including the London Eye before returning to Moorfields for a street party.

This year, a new 1-mile walk was introduced to complement the existing 15-mile and 5-mile routes, helping ensure that as many people as possible could take part. As part of making the walk as accessible as possible, Friends of Moorfields and Moorfields Eye Charity worked together to make Friends volunteers available to walkers who needed guiding on the route.

Some Friends volunteers also completed the walk on their own account, contributing to a total of over £100,000 raised on the day to support Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and fund research and innovation in eye health.

Friends staff and trustees were on hand at the Friends stall throughout the day, chatting to participants and sharing information about volunteering.

Former Moorfields patient Felix ran the Barcelona Marathon on March 10, in support of Friends of Moorfields. Despite having never run a marathon before, Felix came in under his goal time of five hours – and sped past his fundraising goal too, raising over £900 to split between Friends of Moorfields and Starlight Children’s Foundation, the national charity for children’s play in healthcare.

“Of course it was hard work,” says Felix, “but the knees just about held up! 30-35km was definitely the hardest zone mentally, as soon as 35km fell it dawned that we were actually getting pretty close. Feeling happy that I have got it done and hugely appreciative of everyone who donated!”

During his childhood Felix spent a lot of time at Moorfields Eye Hospital, receiving treatment for a rare genetic condition called Blepharophimosis Ptosis Epicanthus Inversus Syndrome, or BPES. His experiences gave him an insight into how seemingly small things can make a big difference during a hospital visit.

Play in hospitals can go a long way to helping young patients have a positive experience, but provision of health play services varies from one trust to the next. As well as providing children’s magazines, Friends of Moorfields funds the salaries of 2.5 health play specialists, based at Moorfields’ Richard Desmond Children’s Eye Centre (RDCEC), to help make the experience less daunting for children attending for clinics and procedures. The play team at the RDCEC support dozens of children on an average day, and thousands each month.

Health play specialists don’t just play with children – they are clinical support professionals who have studied the psychological effects of illness and trauma in children and have the skills to safeguard children’s emotional and mental health in healthcare settings. In research conducted by Starlight, 95% of responses reported that children who played seemed to have a more positive healthcare experience.

“Whilst they’re playing, we can talk to them and find out what their anxieties are,” says health play specialist Edna Owusu. “I say to them, you’re in charge. We’re here to look after you and help you. And if you’re worried about anything, just let us know.”

“Children have a right to play, and this doesn’t change during their time in hospital,” says Gemma Peterman, who was inspired to become a health play specialist after her own childhood experiences, and now works in the play team at Moorfields. “Play in hospital provides children with a sense of normality during a time which can be challenging for them.”