Children for Health is Launched!
The new organisation Children for Health was launched in great style at the National Theatre in London on Thursday, 7th March 2013.
Children for Health is a UK-based charitable organisation dedicated to the promotion of basic health education in developing countries, and focused on the role of children as the ambassadors and communicators of health messages and health activities in their communities: via text messages, smart phones, the internet and other technological platforms.
Our gracious host for the evening was Robin Hanbury-Tenison, the explorer, whose fascinating exhibition of photographs and artefacts of his lifetime of adventure provided a very special backdrop to a unique evening.
A large number of the international development community attended the event, along with supporters, friends and family, giving Children for Health a full endorsement and a rousing welcome.
Amongst the large crowd present were Clare Hanbury’s former colleagues from Child-to-Child, our partners in Pakistan from RSPN, and Dr Sam Agbo, the Head of Health and HIV from Save the Children UK, as well as representatives from numerous other children’s charities and causes.
Speeches followed:
- Dominic Vergine, Director of Sustainable Development, ARM, who have provided seed funding for the Children for Health initiative, conveyed his excitement that Children for Health was now up and running;
- Tobias Hanbury, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, welcomed all the various branches of the Hanbury family who had come to the event, and explained the historical connection between health and the Hanbury family through the pharmaceutical firm Allen & Hanburys; and finally,
- Clare Hanbury, the Founder of Children for Health, gave an overview of its objectives and explained that the organisation was the result of her lifetime’s work in children’s health and education. She said Children for Health was created from a position of “rage”: even with the incredible advance in global communication technology, we are still living in a world in which children are suffering and dying because they do not have the most basic knowledge about health.
A “Children for Health pledge card” was given out at the event for attendees to express and sign up their support – whether financial, political or otherwise – to help Children for Health flourish.
For more details about Children for Health, please explore this demonstration website or contact Clare on clare@childrenforhealth.org.