I'm helping Friends of the Friarage raise £200,000 to fund equipment needed to carry out vitreoretinal surgery at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton.

Vitreoretinal surgery is surgery carried out on the back of the eye. Surgery on these parts of the eye are to restore, preserve and improve vision for a wide range of conditions including retinal detachment, trauma, diabetic retinopathies and macular disease. Macular disease is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK affecting around 1.5 million people of all ages.

Currently this service is available at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. Over a quarter of the people on the waiting list for surgery in Middlesbrough are from Hambleton and Richmondshire. Providing this service in Northallerton would make it easier for people to receive their treatment locally reducing lengthy, costly and often distressing journeys and improving recovery times. This in turn would also reduce the environmental impact of travel to Middlesbrough and give people the option of using local transport services.

At the start of the year I met the Macular Society Support Group in Richmond and heard directly how local surgery could benefit those needing these treatments. I left feeling inspired and determined to help raise funds and awareness for those experiencing vision loss locally. I have also seen first hand how living with vision loss can affect daily life and how vital local services are as my Uncle Cyril had macular degeneration.

Imagine how distressing it would be to have a 150 mile round trip for surgery or to have to rely on public transport to get to appointments so far away or have to travel such long distances whilst holding your head down (this is often needed following this type of surgery). This is why we need to support vision loss locally and bring eye surgery to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton.

Thank you for your support 👁️❤️