Page 5 - RVC4Life - Alumni making a difference

THE RVC ANIMAL
increasing number of them effectively, it can be challenging to measure and accurately assess improvements in respiration without specialist equipment. Plethysmographs enable the accurate measurement of respiration and lung capacity in small animals such as the French Bulldog as the animal is placed inside a Perspex box which can measure the volume of air being respired.
Students supporting the RVC ACT
Support works both ways and we are really grateful to those students who organise events and fundraising initiatives to directly benefit the ACT. From bake sales to naked calendars and everything in between, our busy students seem to develop more and more imaginative ways to support our work.
For more information, please visit our website rvc.ac.uk./act, call us on 01707 666237 or email us at act@rvc.ac.uk
CARE TRUST – TWHO? WHAT? WHY?
he ACT is the College’s incredible work of RVC researchers. registered charity and Two were to purchase sophisticated although we were microscopes; an electron microscope originally set up in for imaging bone and other tissues and 1982 to raise the funds a fluorescence microscope for imaging
needed to build the UK’s first tissues and cells. The other was for a
veterinary referral hospital (now known as the RVC Queen Mother Hospital for Animals or QMHA), we now raise funds to support a variety of projects at the RVC. Our charitable objectives are primarily focussed on the advancement of veterinary medicine and excellence in veterinary education.
Currently all philanthropic donations to the RVC are processed by the Animal Care Trust (ACT). As a registered charity we are governed by the Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator and we raise funds in a number of ways from appeals, to events, legacies to philanthropic corporate partnerships.
Our supporters often give to particular areas of the RVC’s work or specific projects. These donations are kept in restricted funds which can only be used for the purposes described. Donations from our alumni generally go to our Alumni Fund which is focussed on supporting RVC students. In this newsletter you will read about some of the fantastic student facing projects and initiatives we have funded thanks to donations from you, through the Alumni Fund, but the ACT has also been able to fund a whole plethora of fantastic projects to support research and benefit our hospitals.
Here are some examples:
Helping advance research
The charity has awarded three major grants in the past year to support the
scanner which will revolutionise the way we deal with pathology at the RVC.
Digital Slide Scanner – £120,000
These scanners take very high resolution images of slides which can then be stored permanently without fear of degradation, can be used for clinical diagnosis, are easily communicated to others and can be displayed to a lecture hall of students. This is in contrast to slides themselves which degrade over time, can only be viewed via a microscope, are difficult and slow to transport worldwide and in a classroom context are limited to viewing via a multi-headed microscope.
Helping advance clinical care
The charity has recently funded a number of exciting, innovative pieces of equipment for the RVC’s hospitals including a new CT scanner for the QMHA, electrochemotherapy equipment for the Equine Hospital, and pioneering cardiology imaging equipment. We also supported the recent refurbishment of the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital purchasing specialist equipment for the expanded Exotics facilities and the new surgical wards.
Plethysmograph – £40,000
The French Bulldog is now one of the most popular breeds in the UK and the RVC’s hospitals are seeing a rapidly increasing number of dogs of bracycephalic breeds. Many of these patients present with breathing difficulties and whilst the Bracycephalic Clinic has enabled the RVC to treat an
–5–