Brenda Fielding and Eric Smith were friends and neighbours from Abingdon, who found each other later in life, having lost their respective spouses. Brenda’s eyesight began to fail in her 80s – so the pair decided to travel around the world together, while she could still see the sights.

Our Charity first met them in 2017, when Brenda made a generous donation after Eric’s heart surgery at the John Radcliffe. The following year, as they celebrated their 90th birthdays, they asked friends and family to donate to Oxford Hospitals Charity instead of giving presents.

As Brenda’s eyesight deteriorated, Eric would read her the updates from this magazine. They loved to hear news about the work of the charity, and how their donation was making a difference at the Heart Centre. Following this, Brenda decided that she wanted their support for the Oxford Heart Centre to continue long into the future, so included a gift in her Will to Oxford Hospitals Charity.

It was such a privilege to hear their stories and get to know this lovely pair, so we were very sad to hear that they both passed away recently. Brenda’s generous legacy of £50,000 will be used, just as she asked, to help heart patients being treated in our hospitals just as Eric was.

Brenda and Eric were very special to our charity: they inspired us, and hopefully, they have inspired you too.

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Legacies fund up to one-third of our charitable work.

Much of the innovative equipment we are able to buy for our hospitals is thanks to the generosity of supporters like Brenda, who include our Charity in their Will.

Once you have looked after your loved ones, making or amending your Will to include a gift to Oxford Hospitals Charity (registered charity no. 1175809) is surprisingly easy.

Leaving a gift to your favourite hospital charity – whether large or small – is one of the biggest differences you can make for future generations. We will be offering a free Will service in the near future to our supporters, so please do watch this space.

In the meantime, to find out more about gifts in Wills, please visit our legacy page,  email [email protected] ,or call 01865 743444 for further help.

We'd love to hear that Brenda and Eric have inspired you, as they have us.