The Wessex Neurological Centre is one of the largest and most highly-regarded neurological units in the UK. The centre, located at Southampton General Hospital, provides acute neurosurgical and neurological care, and caters for a population of around 3 million people across  a population of 3 million throughout central southern England & the Channel Islands.

 As the face of fundraising for the Wessex Neurological Centre Trust (WNCT), the Smile4Rich Appeal was set up in memory of 15-year old Richard Bowler who passed away following a brain haemorrhage in July 2002. In addition to various neurological research projects that have been funded via the WNCT, the Smile4Rich Appeal has previously provided a dedicated neurological intensive care ambulance. This unique vehicle has carried over 900 patients since becoming operational in March 2007.
 

 The Trust having successfully raised £80,000 to provide a dedicated 'critical care' ambulance, and £145,000 to fund the creation of a Paediatric Video-Telemetry Suite (used to assess children with severe Epilepsy as to their suitability for life-changing corrective surgery), our latest appeal aims to raise a further £200,000 for our most ambitious project to date - the Fluorescence Enhanced Neurosurgery Appeal. Surgeons at the Centre perform vascular neurosurgery (to repair aneurysms, haemorrhages and the like), on hundreds of patients each year. By equipping one of the Centre's operating theatres with a new, state-of-the-art operating microscope fitted with the FL800 Fluorescence system, most of these patients will benefit. Fluorescence Enhanced Neurosurgery enables surgeons to clearly visualise blood-flow in adjacent brain tissue, reducing the possibility of either a recurrence of the bleed, or of a post-operative stroke.