info@hlmt.org.uk

HLMT Newsletter, March 2022

Dear supporters,

You will be glad to hear that a lot has happened in the past few months since our Autumn Newsletter, and that several events are already arranged for this year, three of them in May!

This newsletter includes news of forthcoming events, developments in Liberia and recent events:

  • A Zumbathon fundraiser on 7th May from 10.00 until 1.00 for you to attend or sponsor
  • A HLMT Plant and Craft stall on 14th May from 10.00 until 2.00
  • Singer-songwriter Louise Jordan, supported by Paul Carbuncle – an evening of wonderful music  28th May 7.30 p.m.
  • Sherwood Street Market – HLMT stall 20th August 9am – 3pm
  • Ana Gonzalez running the Comrades Marathon (55 miles!) in S Africa for HLMT on 28th August
  • HLMT stall at Nottingham Green Festival on11th September
  • Boots Orchestra Nottingham – concert for HLMT 19th November
  • Anna Kent’s forthcoming book “Frontline Midwife”
  • Four successful fundraising events for HLMT held in November and December 2021

Forthcoming events – dates for your diary!

1. Zumbathon: Saturday 7th May 2022 10.00am – 1.00pm. Main hall, United Reformed Church, 1, Edwards Lane, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 3AA.  (doors open 9.30am)

Charm Daley, a HLMT trustee and Zumba instructor, together with other instructor colleagues, will be running this fundraising event to celebrate the International day of the Midwife! Join a bunch of awesome instructors for a sponsored dance party with heart! Get sponsored to dance! (No dance experience necessary!) There will be a cake stall and raffle (awesome prizes!) on the day. AND our Liberian Arts and Crafts Stall. Tickets are just £10 per person. Places are limited to 35. To book your place and for more information: https://www.trybooking.co.uk/BMHB .  The Facebook page for the event is at https://www.facebook.com/events/1013115152944570

If you cannot take part in the Zumbathon, to support HLMT, please sponsor Charm by clicking on https://www.peoplesfundraising.com/fundraising/ZumbathonHLMT

2. Plant and Craft stall: Saturday 14th May 2022 from 10a.m. – 2 p.m. outside the Crimson Tree, corner Mansfield Road/Burlington Road, Nottingham NG5 2FX

HLMT trustee Carol McCormick has organised this event. Indoor/outdoor plants will include strawberry plants, cacti, hydrangeas, fig trees, primulas, hosta and spider plants. Crafts include handmade lavender bags, greetings cards, bags, bunting and more! All using Traditional Lappa fabric from Liberia. All proceeds from sales go to The Helen Loewenstein Memorial Trust.

A couple of requests from Carol who is organising this and already has plants everywhere that she is nurturing for the stall:
a. If you have any good saleable indoor or outdoor plants that you could donate, please let Carol know, but keep them until 14th May and bring them to the stall on the day if possible. If not we can collect. Please liaise with Carol carolmccormick@talktalk.net
b. Do any of you have greenhouse/sunroom space to store plants? Carol is going to run out, so any offers of temporary plant care will be much appreciated. Again please contact Carol about this carolmccormick@talktalk.net

3. Louise Jordan, singer-songwriter + support from Paul Carbuncle, 28th May 2022 7.30 p.m. Main hall, United Reformed Church, 1, Edwards Lane, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 3AA.

The theme of Louise’s songs will be “Extraordinary women, lesser known and better known.” They will include journalist Dorothy Lawrence, working-class suffragette from Derbyshire, Hannah Mitchell and Florence Nightingale.

More details to follow soon

4. Sherwood Street Market – HLMT stall 20th August 9am – 3pm

Car park United Reformed Church, 1, Edwards Lane, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 3AA. Further details to follow in the next newsletter.

5. Ana Gonzalez, HLMT supporter and immigration / human rights lawyer, will be doing a sponsored run for HLMT (the gruelling 55 mile Comrades Marathon in South Africa) on 28th August.

We will be asking HLMT supporters to sponsor Ana. Details to follow in the next newsletter.

6. HLMT stall at Nottingham Green Festival on 11th September 2022 Arboretum, Waverley Street, Nottingham NG7 4HF 12 noon to 6pm.

7. Boots Orchestra Nottingham – concert for HLMT 7.30pm 19th November, 2022 St. Mark’s Church, De Vere Gardens, Woodthorpe, Nottingham NG5 4PH

Details of the concert programme can be found at: https://www.bootsorchestra.co.uk/concerts-2/

Please put these dates in your diary. Details will follow nearer the time.

8. Latest developments at the Esther Bacon School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zorzor, Liberia

Six midwifery students are now receiving HLMT grants during 2021-2022. They are Dorcus Akoi, Victoria Ballah, Janet Davis, Benetta Kesselly, Aminata Sumanie and Suah Valai. All of them are working hard and their progress reports are excellent.. In mid-March, HLMT trustees Peter Loewenstein and Stella Nickolay are going on a private visit to Liberia. They will visit the Esther Bacon School, and look forward to meeting the staff and students there, and sharing their experiences in the next newsletter.

9. Anna Kent

Ex- Médecins Sans Frontières midwife, former City Hospital colleague and friend of Helen Loewenstein and HLMT supporter, has written a book about childbirth and midwifery in war zones and the UK, out on 12 May. It is entitled “Frontline Midwife.” It has a section featuring Helen. Publishers Bloomsbury have agreed to promote the work of HLMT in the book. To buy a copy or for further info: https://www.waterstones.com/book/frontline-midwife/annakent/
9781526625519

10. Recent successful fundraising events

An evening of Live Music on Saturday 27th November 2021. Three bands – Ajar, The Strawberry Jammers and Lowered Tones – played three great sets with Nick Loewenstein doing a great job on sound. On a raw, cold night 50+ hardy supporters were treated to a night of high-class, varied music. A great night was had by all and over £700 raised towards grants for trainee midwives in Liberia.

HLMT craft stalls at Christmas Markets on 4th and 5th December 2021. HLMT set up stalls at two really good Christmas markets/fairs – at Woodthorpe Park and Bestwood Village. Staffed by trustees and supporters, the Trust made almost £400.

The City Hospital cake sale 7th December 2021. Staff from the maternity team – receptionists, doctors, support workers and midwives – raised £438.87 for HLMT. The staff all work in the maternity unit where Helen Loewenstein was a midwife for much of her midwifery career. What a brilliant result for a one-day cake sale!

11. Standing orders, donations and bequeaths in wills

HLMT plans are to increase the number of Liberian midwifery students it sponsors from year to year. A key basis of our fundraising is the regular Standing Orders and one-off donations from supporters, for which we are so grateful We depend on this regular income to do our work – in the last Covid-limited year, this has been crucial.

Our overheads are minimal, there are no paid staff and all the funds we raise are used to fund the training costs of student midwives in Liberia. If you have not already done so, it would be tremendous if you can please set up a Standing Order, no matter how small or large.
https://hlmt.org.uk/hlmt-Standing-Order-Mandate.pdf

Please return the form to us and not to your bank.

Whilst we hope that all of our supporters have long and happy lives, we would also be very grateful if you feel able to include HLMT in your will!

As always, a massive “thank you” to everyone who supports the work of The Helen Loewenstein Memorial Trust www.hlmt.org.uk . Helen would be astonished but very proud at what is being achieved in her memory.


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