In 2018, following the sad loss of their friend Alan Miller, Gerry and Pauline Smith approached us with a desire to support an upcoming project.

Alan left a large amount of money to charity in his will and Gerry and Pauline were tasked with donating funds to charities in his memory from the Alan Miller Trust.

Following their initial interest in current hospital appeals, Gerry and Pauline wished to make an initial contribution to support the treatment of children accessing our services. They made a £50,000 donation on behalf of the Alan Miller Trust in January 2019, to fund a portable imaging machine that is used to take retinal images in infants. This machine supports prematurity screening, eye cancer in infants and other related conditions.

Since making this generous donation, Gerry and Pauline remain incredibly involved in hospital projects and have now donated over £325,000.

Donations from the Alan Miller Trust also includes funding for the Butterfly Garden, a private outdoor space – located at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital – for end of life patients and their loved ones to spend time outside in a peaceful and secluded environment.

As well as making a contribution to the staff health and wellbeing fund in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we received a significant donation from the Alan Miller Trust, which contributed directly to our Walkerbot fundraising appeal.

The £365,000 walking robotics have now been fully funded and are in use at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital Stroke Unit, helping stroke patients to take the thousands of steps needed during recovery.

Alan was past President of the Westover & Bournemouth Rowing Club and a dedicated volunteer for Dorset Wildlife Trust and the National Trust on Brownsea Island.

If you are inspired by this story and would like to consider leaving a charitable gift to our hospitals in your will, please get in touch to find out more.