Richard Desmond donates £2.5m to children's eye hospital

Richard Desmond, owner of the Express newspaper group, has donated £2.5 million to Moorfields Eye Hospital towards the building of a new children's eye centre. The new building will be named The Richard Desmond Children's Eye Centre.

Desmond, a Moorfields patient, has previously supported glaucoma research at the hospital.

Ian Balmer, Chief Executive of Moorfields, confirmed that this donation brought the appeal total to over £15 million.

The centre is scheduled to open in Autumn 2006. Ahead of its completion, funding is still being sought to help with equipping the centre.