The Friends of Harrogate Hospital Charity (No 1050008) are holding a Variety Show in the Royal Hall on Sunday 18 November at 2:30pm and 7:30pm.
The comedian Billy Pearce will be heading the bill along with a ventriloquist, musical saw player, a juggler, an acrobat amongst other first class acts. We have also formed an NHS choir and dancers to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS.

Tickets cost from £12 and are available from the Harrogate Theatre box office (www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk or 01423 502116). Please come along – every penny you pay goes straight to our appeal since we have now covered our costs.

The show will raise funds for a RetCam3 retinal camera and a Reichert Ocular Response Analyser both for the Ophthalmic Department in our hospital. The RetCam3 is a specialist camera for analyzing the eyes of premature babies. The veins in the eye are amongst the last things to mature in the womb and premature babies are prone to retinopathy of prematurity that, if undetected, quickly leads to permanent blindness. Currently, all premature babies (viable early births from 23 weeks occur), with their mothers, have to go to Leeds or elsewhere for checking but fewer than 10% on average need corrective laser surgery that is virtually 100% effective. If all babies could be checked at Harrogate, many disruptive journeys could be saved and the Consultants would have a record for later consultations at Harrogate (or anywhere else since the images are portable). The RetCam3 also can identify a fairly rare cancer of the eye that affects those under 5 years old. Finally, it can detect shaken baby syndrome and assess any damage.
The Reichert Analyser will be used by the Outpatients Department and is a great advance in the detection of Glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. It is far quicker, more accurate and simpler to operate than the existing methods. This is a very busy clinic that often runs late and this machine will greatly improve diagnosis as well as reducing appointment times.

So, how much are we looking to raise for the two machines? The basic RetCam3 costs £88,515 ex VAT and the Analyser £9,920 ex VAT (we do not pay VAT). So, this is just short of £100,000! The good news is that the Department has raised £10,000 and we have sourced a further £55,000 from charitable trusts; we hope the show will raise £15,000 so we are close to raising what we need.

Please support the show but, if you are unable to attend but wish to support us, please send a donation to Ophthalmology Appeal, c/o General Office, Harrogate District Hospital, Lancaster Park Road, Harrogate HG2 7SX (make cheques payable to HDFT fund 7042). If you wish to transfer funds our bank, the details are Sort Code 60-70-80 and Account 10004904; please note Account 7042 in the information field. Please indicate if you wish us to claim Gift Aid on your donation by including your address/house number & postcode (provided you pay income of capital gains tax); this will increase your donation by 25% at no cost to you.