The obituary notice of Keith MAINWARING

Keith Mainwaring was one of the kindest and most generous people I have had the pleasure of meeting during my work at Your City & Metropolitan Hospitals Charity, which represents the Birmingham Midland Eye Centre.

Keith was a passionate advocate for positive change for our patients, people and wider population at BMEC. As an incredibly huble individual he never sought any recognition or thanks for his contributions, but simply wanted to make things better for others.

I am committed to working with my colleagues in the charity and at BMEC to ensure we honour Keith's legacy and strive to achieve the positive change that he wished for.

Johnny Shah
Director of Your City & Metropolitan Hospitals Charity

Keith was one of the kindest and most generous people I have had the pleasure of meeting during my work at Your City & Metropolitan Hospitals Charity, which represents the Birmingham Midland Eye Centre (BMEC).

Keith was clearly very passionate about creating positive change for patients, staff, and our wider population at BMEC. He was an extremely humble individual who didn't seek recognition or thanks, but simply wanted to make things better for others.

He will be remembered and recognised for his contributions at BMEC, and we will work to continue creating the change that he wished for.

Johnny Shah
Director of Charity, Your City & Metropolitan Hospitals Charity

I first met Keith a few years ago at the Birmingham Midland Eye Centre (BMEC) when along with Prof. Philip Murray, Prof. Si Rauz, and Dr Alberto Recchioni he was busy raising funds at one of his cake sale events.

Despite the event being in the depths of an icy winter period, his welcome was friendly and warm, his persona being someone who was intuitively passionate about raising much needed funds for BMEC and The Roper-Hall Eye Foundations diverse mix of visual impairment projects and clinical appeals.

I immediately found him as a compassionate, intelligent and thoughtful fellow. In our passing of the time, we somehow got around to natter about the importance of education, mentoring and careers... and why giving back to society was one of his priorities to help those that were less fortunate than he was. Keith never let on to me at any stage that here I was speaking to a highly qualified former NASA engineer and designer!

In what was short moments of time, and later in fleeting moments shared in his company, I always found Keith as he truly was; someone that was humble and happy within himself, and moreover compassionate and innovatively interested in supporting in any way he could the continued development of others irrespective of class, gender, race, status or social background.

Hearing of his passing from Si and Phil (BMEC and fundraising colleagues) was one of the saddest of news I've had of late.

Keith, you are now at rest, but with the continued support of your 'BMEC alumni' I know that your inspirational ambitions and projects will not only come to life but will help us build the foundation(s) of your legacy.


Edward Edmead
Head of Business Development
SWB Your City & Metropolitan Hospitals Charity

I was deeply saddened to learn of Keith’s passing, which I only discovered recently.

I had the pleasure of meeting Keith when I first joined the University of Birmingham as a postdoctoral fellow, working with colleagues at the Academic Unit of Ophthalmology based at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre.

I first met Keith during the organisation of our initial Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) event for some of our early-phase clinical trials (2019). From that moment, it was always a great pleasure to speak with him. He was kind, enthusiastic, and deeply dedicated to improving patient care and research.

Beyond his invaluable contributions, Keith’s warmth and curiosity made every conversation enjoyable. I fondly remember our chats about my home country, Italy, and life in the UK. His generosity of spirit and positive outlook left a lasting impression on everyone who worked with him.

Keith will be greatly missed. I hope that, in time, I’ll meet others who share his generosity and character.

Alberto

It is with great sadness that I have only recently learnt about Keith’s passing. Keith was an Associate Member of the charity ‘Roper-Hall Eye Foundation’, whose objective is to promote research and education into the study of ophthalmology for the public benefit, primarily in Birmingham and the West Midlands. I, our Trustees and Associate Members would like to pass on our sincerest condolences and sympathy to his family and friends. Keith’s enthusiasm, drive and generosity, not only for us but also for Your City & Metropolitan Hospitals Charity, made such a huge impact. He was our chief fundraiser, designing, printing and selling charity Xmas cards, organising cake sales and collection boxes near his home in Coventry, and was invaluable in advising on fundraising activities and playing a major role in the cake sales at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre and more recently helping patients and public to complete a questionnaire survey to ensure the best possible care and facilities for them at the Eye Centre, a place that he was passionate about as he had been a patient there for many years. He also had a specific talent and expertise in making Dolls’ Houses and auctioning them for charity. He will be greatly missed.
Philip I. Murray
Chair, Roper-Hall Eye Foundation