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Annual General Meeting 2007 Held at St Bartholomew’s Hospital CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS: The Rt Reverend Robert Hardy opened the meeting by welcoming all those present and inviting everyone to enjoy the Carol Service following the meeting. Chairman of the Trustees: Major General Peter Baldwin gave a short address, thanking Lillian for all her hard and dedicated work to The Eyeless Trust. He said that The Eyeless Trust is only associated and not merged with the Royal Blind Society, the reason being that if at any time it is considered wise to dissociate, it would be much easier to do so. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: The Right Reverend David Conner, MA, Dean of Windsor, and Social Workers Mrs Doreen Armstrong, Mrs Sally Brennan, Mrs Pauline Everest, Mr Graham Willetts. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING: The Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting had been circulated and were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman. MATTERS ARISING: There were no matters arising. ACCOUNTANT’S REPORT: The accounts for the year ending 31 October 2007 were presented by Mr Graham Booth, from which it was reported that there had been an increase in the amount of grants given to children and their families, resulting in an increase also in the amount paid to the Social Workers as a result of the extra visits involved. In general terms, The Eyeless Trust is in a healthy financial position at present. The Accounts for the year ended 31 October 2007 were adopted. The Chairman thanked Graham Booth for preparing and delivering the accounts, and John Wheeler for kindly auditing the accounts. DIRECTOR’S REPORT: Address by Mrs Lillian Ramsay MBE AIMSW My Lord Bishop, formerly our first President, on behalf of all our guests I would like to extend a very warm welcome to you for coming to Bart’s to-day, to take the place of the Dean of Windsor, our present President, who sadly is unable to be with us, but he sends his very best wishes. And a very warm welcome to all who have come here to-day, particularly Mums and Dads, all the children and especially our benefactors. I am sure that you will all have a most enjoyable afternoon. Mr Chairman, it is good to have you with us and we appreciate your making the journey from Cumbria to come and Chair our AGM and take the Carol Service to-day. Before I commence my last Annual Report, I wonder, Mr Chairman, if I might be allowed to digress for a few moments from my main topic? Many of you might wonder why we hold our AGM here at Bart’s. Well, the reason is two-fold:- Firstly because Bart’s has become a “family hospital” – my late husband, Raymond Ramsay, qualified as a Surgeon here and whilst he was studying for his Fellowship, I was training here as a Lady Almoner student. During that time our paths must have crossed over the famous square outside, but we never met at Bart’s (what a waste of time!) but later when he was at the BRI and I was at the RUH Bath. And also, of course, my eldest son also qualified here as a Surgeon, and is here with us to-day. Unfortunately his wife, who also trained at Bart’s and is a Doctor, is unable to be present. As to its suitability, Bart’s, as you probably know, was built in 1106 and is the oldest hospital in Europe. The story goes that a Benedictine Monk from France, Rahere, slept in Smith’s Field and dreamed he was to build a monastery and hospital in Smith’s Field and so he did! To me it is quite astonishing that having watched a documentary film – Fields of Darkness, in 1992 - and having been motivated at a Communion Service at St Michael’s Church, Beaconsfield, to embark upon the task of trying to help this very special group of children and their families, I found myself meeting the first 40 families from Lincolnshire at the Sunday Observer Offices in London. At the end I asked those families if they would like me to try and set up a Trust to help them and there was a resounding sound of “Yes, please.” I came out onto Chelsea Bridge – what had I done? I had no money and no human resources – my husband said I was “bonkers”, but he didn’t mean it, and helped me enormously in those early years. I went to see the then Bishop of Buckingham, the Rt. Rev’d Simon Burrows who advised setting up a Board of Trustees of people from different walks of life – astonishingly no one refused, and then gradually I formed a Team of qualified Social Workers throughout the U.K. and to demonstrate Christian outreach, asked Bishop Robert Hardy to be our President. He kindly fulfilled that role until his recent retirement. You all know the rest of the story – how the Trust has expanded until to-day – when we currently try and help nearly 500 families by visits from our Social Workers. The latest developments have included a system of Respite Care, tailor-made to the needs of the family, and Teenage Training Workshops at the Woodrow High House centre, much of which is targeted on Development of Potential. There is also a grant system available and one of our Social Workers, Celestria Bell, attends a weekly clinic run by Dr Nicky Ragge, at Moorfields Eye Hospital. To enable parents to cover the cost of travel, and sometimes an overnight stay, grants are available through VICTA, one of our marvellous Benefactors; and our oldest financial Benefactor, VISION Charity which supports the cost of one of our Social Workers attending a weekly clinic at Moorfields Eye Hospital. There she meets the new families and thereafter refers them to their Area Social Worker. Every year the Trust continues to develop in various ways – there are new initiatives, and an overwhelming expansion of the work. Recently we have become associated with the Royal Blind Society, a charity founded in 1852, their Patron being Her Majesty The Queen, and amongst other things they help to finance wonderful holidays at their hotels in Angmering-on-Sea, and Llandudno, North Wales. It is hoped that this association will result in an even better service for our families. We welcome two of their Trustees here to-day, Graham Booth and Michael Smith. One of our other great supporters, in so many ways, is the Dean of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. It has been a disappointment that our present President, the Dean of Windsor, has been unable to attend to-day, but the Succentor of St. George’s, the Rev’d Michael Boag, is also a firm supporter, and once again we are shortly going to enjoy Carol Singing by the Supers Choir of St. George’s, together with one of our own young people – Philippa Woodcraft. It is always a delight to have the Supers Choir with us, and their singing, together with our Readers, greatly enriches the carol service. We are indebted to their Choir Mistress, Yvette Day, for coming regularly and for coaching the choir beforehand. Many of you already know that I am probably retiring as Director of The Eyeless Trust at the end of the year. I shall miss the role I have played enormously, but I have tried to lay firm foundations so that The Eyeless Trust is no longer a fledgling Charity. I hope it will go forward based on the original intention to try and enable parents and children to cope with the problems and difficulties that beset them, through the services of the members of the team of Social Workers. The last 15 years have been a remarkably enriching experience and I hope that the ethos of Christian outreach will continue into the future. In conclusion, I must salute the parents and children who daily cope with so many problems and difficulties, and above all the members of the Social Work team, not only for their dedication, but for the loyal support they have given to me over the years. They are, after all, the very heart of The Trust. I would like to thank the countless people who, during the past 15 years, have made this possible, one being Andrew de Mille our Fund Raising Consultant. I know also that I shall leave the direction of Social Work to a most competent and charming successor, Mrs Mairi Everard JP. I feel confident that she will lead the development of Social Work to new opportunities, and I wish her well in all her endeavours. Mairi worked with the Lady Hoare Trust for some years, as I did, and so we both continue to carry forward the pioneering work of the late Lady Mary Hoare. Incidentally, I will be around for as long as my grey cells operate efficiently as Social Work Consultant and Organiser of Special Events. Lastly, two of our Trustees retire this year, Major General Peter Baldwin who took over the Chairmanship from me and who has served as a dedicated Chairman for the past five years, and Mrs Janet Cassell who has served for the last four years. It is with pleasure that I present a small gift to each of them as a token of our appreciation; and also to Gwyn Allanson, one of our very experienced and thoughtful social workers who retires at the end of January, and I now present a small gift to her in recognition of her wonderful service. So, in the words of the ‘Sound of Music’, So long, Farewell, and a Very Happy Christmas, and Prayers and Blessings to you all for the future. SOCIAL WORKERS REPORTS 2007 Report by David Daniel, Assistant Director Our long standing Social Worker, Norma Fairbrother, from Scotland retired and she will be greatly missed. She has been replaced with two Field Workers covering North and East, and the South and West. Wales is now being covered almost entirely by Colin Towler who, in spite of some very long journeys, never complains! Similarly, Northern Ireland is covered by a single Social Worker, namely Ruth Boyd. We have had 27 new referrals this year compared to 57 in the previous year. Of these, 17 were female and 10 were male, only three of whom were actually born in 2007. This seems to indicate that the number of cases of Anophthalmia and Microphthalmia are perhaps decreasing. 18 of the 27 new cases also had additional disabilities. With each yearly increase, it inevitably means larger case lists for most of our Social Workers. The total number of children know to The Eyeless Trust is now 482. The majority, perhaps 85% of the new referrals are reaching us because of Celestria Bell’s presence at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Some examples are new children to The Trust being born in 1993, 1996 and 1997, only come to our notice in the last twelve months. Celestria’s continued presence at Moorfields therefore seems essential. Through our association with the Royal Blind Society, somewhere in the region of 30 of our families enjoyed wonderful holidays at the Bradbury Hotel and the Belmont Hotel this summer. For many of them it was not just a holiday but a wonderful experience where all the families got on well together and friendships were formed between several families, resulting in them keeping in contact and visiting each other in their own homes. I hope the opportunity offered by the RBS will continue and we can send more of our families on a holiday they would not otherwise be able to take. The Social Work Team continues to have three or four Seminars each year and these give each member the opportunity to meet colleagues and discuss common areas of concern. One of the speakers included Mr Roy Hickman from Woodrow High House; this has led on to us organizing an Independence Training Week at WHH in October 2007 for four young adults who were able to develop their own preferred leisure activities, as well as enjoying the many other facilities provided. We hope to arrange some more of these in 2008. Two particular highlights over the past 12 months have been the celebration of Lillian receiving the MBE with a wonderful dinner, given by Hertford King, at Stoke Park, and then our second Gift Day Service at Windsor in June. Both were outstanding successes. Well, what will this next year bring? I am sure there will be changes to the organization as a new Director of Social Work takes over, but we will have to meet those new challenges and think positively to enable our families to benefit from our work. Normally I would sit down at this point, but this year is a little different. This is the last time we will be meeting with Lillian Ramsay as our Director of Social Work. What can I say about Lillian that has not been said already - NOT A LOT. She founded The Eyeless Trust and developed it in her own unique way into what we have today. A well respected, professional organisation helping hundreds of families throughout the UK. I would like to concentrate my comments from the Social Workers’ point of view. For all of use, Lillian has always been there to offer help, advice, and support, day or night, not only in connection with our children and their families, but also often with personal or family matters. None of us like change but we now have to move on into a new era, but I would like to think that the services we offer to our families, and of which Lillian is so, will continue for many years to come. Lillian, I, and the rest of the team, hope you have continued good health and happiness in the future. I know we will continue to see you from time to time through various activities taking place. I personally hope you find time now for YOURSELF to do some of the less stressful activities you enjoy doing. I will miss you greatly and it will never be quite the same without you. Report by Mr Colin Towler I live in Cardiff and am able to visit one or more families in South Wales and the Bristol area quite easily within one day. However for North Wales, I travel up on one day visiting 2 families, and stay overnight, (usually at the RBS Belmont Hotel) and then visit 2 or 3 families before driving back home. This means a lot of mileage - about 500 miles for my trips to North Wales, although I have enjoyed going to areas that I have not been to before. Now to give you some idea of the sorts of help that we have been able to give some of the children on my caseload, and their families, in the last year:- For the younger of two sisters of an Iranian family living in Bristol (both are bilaterally Anophthalmic) we have been able to raise grant funding to purchase for her a Tomcat Trailer Trike so that she can go cycling with her family. Her sister is quite talented musically and we have made a grant available to pay for singing lessons, which should be helpful for her as she seeks to further her musical studies - she is studying for her ‘A’ levels, with Music being one of her subjects. She is a very bright girl and in all probability will go on to University when she is 18. Two of my families went on holiday to the Belmont Hotel in Llandudno last summer, and one of my Bristol families went to the Bradbury Hotel in Angmering, the RBS hotels. They thoroughly enjoyed these holidays and the parents benefitted enormously from meeting other parents with children with a similar condition to their own child. For a 16 year old multiply handicapped girl who lives with her disabled parents in Pontypridd we are jointly funding a Respite Care arrangement (50/50 with the SSD) whereby the parents employ a carer to take the girl out for an activity for several hours each weekend, enabling her parents to have a break which they use to pursue their own sporting interests (wheelchair basket ball or sledge ice hockey.) Many of my children have frequent appointments at Moorfields Eye Hospital which means a round trip of 350+ miles from Wales and an overnight stay. The Eyeless Trust is able to reimburse the cost of travel and accommodation for these appointments, as well as assisting other families with the expense of taking their children to more local hospital appointments. For all of the families, by visiting them regularly, and being available at the end of a phone line, I am available to provide a listening ear as they describe the problems and difficulties, and the joys and encouragements, that they experience in caring for and bringing up their visually impaired young children. It is a privilege if I am able to help them with some of these difficulties, and to share in some of the joys that they experience. I look forward to another year of being able to work to support these children and their families - it is rewarding work. Some of these children are quite remarkable in their abilities and talents, despite their visual disabilities, and whatever their abilities or disabilities, it is a privilege to be able to support them and their families in whatever way we can. Report by Mrs Beatrice Faulkner Scotland was technically divided into East and West to facilitate easier travelling, although the geographical area covered by each is still huge. For example, how many of you know that travelling from Glasgow or Dundee to the north coast of Scotland is a journey of several hours, over 200 miles! Grace’s background is in Education, having been employed at the Royal Blind School for 23 years and in fact many of our families met Grace during this previous role when visiting the new babies and giving advice on their care and future welfare. As with all the professionals, Grace is very keen that children are referred to us at as young an age as possible and I know that her specific skills will be useful not only in Scotland, but in England too. Grace lives in Bonnyrigg near Edinburgh, an area well known to Lillian, as I understand her husband’s ancestral ‘seat’ is there. I feel we are fortunate to have two people from such different backgrounds working in Scotland. We will work closely together to give the Scottish families the best service that we can. Changes Yet another year is over, Many of our families struggle 2008 is soon upon us, As we meet each change, each challenge, Happy New Year, each and everyone! Report by Mrs Celestria Bell AIMSW The new Paediatric Building, at the back of the main hospital, opened in February and is a bright and airy building with plenty of room. The majority of services which the children need are now on that site, although they do have to go through to the old building for Prosthetics - the Artificial Eye Service - and one or two other specialist departments. One advantage of my ID card (!?) is that it literally opens doors - in this case connecting doors for a short cut between the two buildings. It is a joy to work with Dr Nicky Ragge. Invariably the families feel better for seeing her; they appreciate both her skills (not only in Ophthalmology but in other paediatric consultations which may be associated with Anophthalmia and Microphthalmia and her research is making phenomenal progress) but they also appreciate her concern for them as individuals and as families. She is also very supportive of the work of The Eyeless Trust. Thank you Nicky. Report by Mrs Norma Fairbrother At the very beginning Lillian managed to find a group of supportive people who worked behind the scenes as trustees, and a very efficient treasurer in Philip Capps. We began with our first Social Work meeting held on 3 October 1995 in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special needs, Welburn Square, London. 12 years later the team has more than doubled in size and brings a variety of expertise to the work. Working from home 24/7 Lillian is the Management Team, wearing a variety of management hats depending on whom she is speaking to. Lillian built a charitable organisation that did not spend vast sums of money on impressive offices and administration but directed as much financial help as possible to families in need. The Eyeless Trust is entering a new era, working in association with the Royal Blind Society. This will hopefully provide further scope for expansion of services to even more children and families with visual disability who require help and support. In order to achieve this I was extremely pleased to hear that Mrs Mairi Everard will be leading the Social Work Team and directing the Trust from January 2008. Mairi had established herself as an extremely effective leader heading the former Lady Hoare Trust Social Work Team. I speak from experience - having been one of those workers! The future prospects look bright for the present employees of The Trust and for all of the children and families who rely on The Trust for support and help. Whatever Lillian does in the future, I think that the founding of The Eyeless Trust will remain one of her most successful ventures. She is an exceptional woman who refuses to hear the negative approach; and has strength of character reinforced by Christian faith and whose achievements are remarkable. Thank you Lillian from those of us who are here today and from those hundreds of children and families that have benefitted from your efforts. Report by Dr Nicky Ragge MD MA FRCOphth FRCPCHNicky very kindly attending once again and brought us up to date with the Genetic Research Work that she has undertaken and apparently she has now discovered three genes. Many of the families with older children continue to attend Moorfields for follow-up, and in addition of course there are many new children, particularly babies who come along to the clinic and most of them are seen by Celestria Bell, our Social Worker who attends Moorfields once a week. Nicky wanted to record her thanks, and that of the whole team, to The Eyeless Trust, and in particular to Lillian, and of course other charities including VICTA and Vision Charity, for all their invaluable support.
The Chairman, the Rt Rev’d Bob Hardy, thanked Lillian, David, Colin, Beatrice, Celestria, Norma and Nicky for all that they have done for The Eyeless Trust during the course of the last year and invited everyone to give them a round of applause. He praised Lillian for everything she had done for the Trust - and said that “apart from my wife, Lillian is the only lady who, when she asks me to help in any way, I cannot refuse.”
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