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IMPORTANT INFORMATION
At the AGM held on 10th October 2023 there was a unanimous vote
in favour of dissolving The Friends of the Bournemouth Eye Unit Charity.
in favour of dissolving The Friends of the Bournemouth Eye Unit Charity.
The minutes of the meeting are reproduced below. The Committee (Trustees) will now complete the work required to officially dissolve the charity and arrange for the transfer of all assets to the main Bournemouth Hospital Charity where all the transferred funds, and any income derived in future from the investments, will be ring fenced for use only by the Bournemouth Eye Unit.
The Friends of the Bournemouth Eye Unit
28th Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 10th October 2023 in the
Conference Room at the Education Centre, Royal Bournemouth Hospital
28th Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 10th October 2023 in the
Conference Room at the Education Centre, Royal Bournemouth Hospital
Present: Mr David Etchells (President), Mrs Julie Dowdney (Acting Chairman), Miss Pat Neville (Treasurer), Mrs Julie Tillotson, Mrs Wendy Wade, Mrs Tricia Sullivan, Mr Bernard Sullivan, Miss Catherine Marsh, Mrs Jenny Adams, Mr David Lewis, Mrs Judith Allebon, Mr Malcolm Allebon, Mrs Christine Watson, Mr Richard Renaut. A total attendance of 14 members.
The Committee decided that Mrs Julie Dowdney would be Acting Chairman for this meeting.
1. President’s Welcome.
2. Apologies for Absence - 44 apologies received.
3. Minutes of Last AGM 2019 Julie Dowdney explained that unfortunately we had been unable to hold an AGM since 2019 mainly due to Covid Restrictions. However the minutes from our meeting on 11 July 2019 were signed as correct.
4. Acting Chair’s Report Julie Dowdney outlined the difficulties in keeping the charity going with increasing administration and legalities. The main business of this AGM therefore is to discuss closure of the Friends and handing over the assets to the main hospital charity. Julie told us that she had received assurances from Debbie Anderson who runs the hospital charity that any money handed over would be ring-fenced for use solely in Ophthalmology and this would apply to any future donations.
Julie finished by recording our thanks to Bernard Sullivan our Auditor, David Lewis for all his help in setting up the database of members and to Lorraine Squires for her work on the membership record.
5. Treasurer’s Report Pat Neville provided copies of the accounts for the year ending 31 May 2023 and advised us that the total cash funds up to the end of September 2023 amount to £31,132.
6. Dissolution of the charity Judith Allebon asked if there was a legal requirement for legacies left to the Eye Unit to be used for the benefit of the Eye Unit and Julie Dowdney assured her this is so.
7. Vote The meeting voted unanimously to dissolve the charity and to enable transfer of cash funds and investment holdings (via instruction of Farley and Thompson) to the main Royal Bournemouth Hospital Charity.
8. Any Other Business Julie Dowdney recorded her thanks to Judith Allebon for her services in support of the charity.
Cath Marsh hoped that the investments would continue to produce profits and Richard Renaut explained that the hospital charity is professionally managed and our investment income should continue.
It was noted that many of the members who had sent apologies had also noted their agreement that merging with the hospital charity was a sensible option for the future.
Julie Tillotson asked how we should go about informing our members about the closure. It was suggested that a notice was put up in OPD and on the website and emails sent to all those online. The remainder may have to be contacted by letter. The Charity Commission Guidance may be useful.
Judith thanked everyone who had helped arrange this evening’s meeting and Cath thanked everyone for all their hard work.
9. Close of Meeting The meeting closed at 18.45pm.
Signed: Julie Dowdney, Chairman
Date: 12th October 2023
The Committee decided that Mrs Julie Dowdney would be Acting Chairman for this meeting.
1. President’s Welcome.
- David Etchells welcomed everyone to the meeting, confirming the meeting could go ahead with a quorum of 14 members.
- He reminded us that the Friends had been set up in 1992 and in 31 years had raised £1.5 million, spent £1.25 million, and had current investments and cash amounting to £250,000. They had donated an average of £40,000 per annum to the Eye Unit, and overall had contributed some £450,000 towards the cost of the current Eye Unit building and subsequent refurbishments.
- Of the £1.5 million raised 52% came from legacies and 30% from investment income.
- He finished by paying tribute to Margaret Neville who was a driving force behind the Friends from it’s instigation until her resignation as Chairman. Very sadly Margaret died earlier this year.
2. Apologies for Absence - 44 apologies received.
3. Minutes of Last AGM 2019 Julie Dowdney explained that unfortunately we had been unable to hold an AGM since 2019 mainly due to Covid Restrictions. However the minutes from our meeting on 11 July 2019 were signed as correct.
4. Acting Chair’s Report Julie Dowdney outlined the difficulties in keeping the charity going with increasing administration and legalities. The main business of this AGM therefore is to discuss closure of the Friends and handing over the assets to the main hospital charity. Julie told us that she had received assurances from Debbie Anderson who runs the hospital charity that any money handed over would be ring-fenced for use solely in Ophthalmology and this would apply to any future donations.
Julie finished by recording our thanks to Bernard Sullivan our Auditor, David Lewis for all his help in setting up the database of members and to Lorraine Squires for her work on the membership record.
5. Treasurer’s Report Pat Neville provided copies of the accounts for the year ending 31 May 2023 and advised us that the total cash funds up to the end of September 2023 amount to £31,132.
6. Dissolution of the charity Judith Allebon asked if there was a legal requirement for legacies left to the Eye Unit to be used for the benefit of the Eye Unit and Julie Dowdney assured her this is so.
7. Vote The meeting voted unanimously to dissolve the charity and to enable transfer of cash funds and investment holdings (via instruction of Farley and Thompson) to the main Royal Bournemouth Hospital Charity.
8. Any Other Business Julie Dowdney recorded her thanks to Judith Allebon for her services in support of the charity.
Cath Marsh hoped that the investments would continue to produce profits and Richard Renaut explained that the hospital charity is professionally managed and our investment income should continue.
It was noted that many of the members who had sent apologies had also noted their agreement that merging with the hospital charity was a sensible option for the future.
Julie Tillotson asked how we should go about informing our members about the closure. It was suggested that a notice was put up in OPD and on the website and emails sent to all those online. The remainder may have to be contacted by letter. The Charity Commission Guidance may be useful.
Judith thanked everyone who had helped arrange this evening’s meeting and Cath thanked everyone for all their hard work.
9. Close of Meeting The meeting closed at 18.45pm.
Signed: Julie Dowdney, Chairman
Date: 12th October 2023
FUTURE DONATIONS
Following closure of The Friends of the Bournemouth Eye Unit Charity could any new donations, gifts and legacies please be directed to: University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity: (click on the green link)
Please note that if using the "one-off donation" page on the UHD Charity webpage then please be sure to add Eye Unit or Ophthalmology to the optional box on the donation page to ensure that your donation is specifically ring fenced for the Bournemouth Eye Unit:
Please note that if using the "one-off donation" page on the UHD Charity webpage then please be sure to add Eye Unit or Ophthalmology to the optional box on the donation page to ensure that your donation is specifically ring fenced for the Bournemouth Eye Unit:
The current project is to raise £201,000 to purchase a new eye surgery simulator machine (EYE SIM).
The Friends of the Eye Unit have recently donated £25,000 to this appeal.
For further information please click on this link:-
Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity’s vision to fund new Eye Simulator is supported by £25k grant
Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity’s vision to fund new Eye Simulator is supported by £25k grant
Wendy Wade - Sight Loss Adviser
Please click here for more details about contacting Wendy and the service.
How we have spent some of our funds:
We have been delighted to receive a number of legacies which have made a significant difference to the support we can give to the Eye Unit. These substantial donations have enabled enhanced surgical, diagnostic and other state of the art equipment to be purchased.
A short video (with sound) explaining the laser and digital photographic equipment recently purchased for The Eye Unit by The Friends:-
Laser, Corneal Microscope, Visual Field Machine, Original Artworks and Eye Day Surgery Unit - all recently funded by The Friends:-
Collect 20p's from your loose change in a Smarties tube!
Each filled tube would contain £12 in coins and will help us to buy equipment for the Eye Unit. Would you like to join our campaign and fill an empty Smarties tube this summer with donations from your family and friends?
Put your name on a label on the tube and pop it into The Friends post box in Outpatients next time you visit The Eye Unit.
Train Travel
Accessible stations and Stations Made Easy
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) have produced maps of the mainland National Rail network that provides at-a-glance information about the accessibility of many stations.
Sometimes it can be helpful to have an idea of what a station looks like before you get there. Stations Made Easy allows you to plan a route around a station. Links to Bournemouth and Poole stations follow:
www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/BMH/details.html
www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/POO/details.html
Discounts
If you have a disability you may be eligible for a Disabled Persons Railcard.
If you do not have a Railcard and you are blind or partially sighted and travelling with a companion, or if you use a wheelchair, you can get a discount on Anytime tickets.
SEEING AI - An App by Microsoft Corporation which is only available on the App Store for iOS devices.
Seeing AI is a free app that narrates the world around you, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to describe nearby people, text and objects. The app has a number of features, including speaking text as soon as it appears in front of the camera, providing audio guidance to capture a printed page and reading handwritten text. The app is an ongoing research project and as the research progresses, more channels may be added.
SEEING AI - An App by Microsoft Corporation which is only available on the App Store for iOS devices.
Seeing AI is a free app that narrates the world around you, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to describe nearby people, text and objects. The app has a number of features, including speaking text as soon as it appears in front of the camera, providing audio guidance to capture a printed page and reading handwritten text. The app is an ongoing research project and as the research progresses, more channels may be added.
GDPR Statement
The GDPR came into effect on 25th May 2018. The Friends of The Bournemouth Eye Unit hold records of members' names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. These can only be accessed by the Trustees of the Charity. We do not use them for anything other than administration and they are never shared with any third party, NHS provider or any other Charity or Ophthalmic related researcher or commercial business.
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