Dear HLMT supporter
IN THIS NEWSLETTER: NEW STUDENT SELECTED, THREE STUDENTS GRADUATE & LIVE MUSIC
- Victoria Qualee selected to receive HLMT grant from September 2026
- HLMT supporting 9 midwifery students in Zorzor, Liberia next academic year
- Three more HLMT-sponsored students graduate in December 2026
- Upcoming events, including live music fundraisers on 10th October & 28th November 2026
- Significant donations
- Any leftover currency to donate to HLMT?
- Successful recent events
- Standing orders, donations and bequests in wills
1. Liberian Developments
Three HLMT-sponsored students successfully completed their midwifery degrees in May and will graduate in December 2026. They are Annie Sumo, Janet Davis and Ruth Harris. Huge congratulations to all three of them.
We are also delighted to announce that the 3 HLMT-sponsored students who graduated last year, Benetta Kesselly, Dorcus Okoi and Victoria Ballah, have all passed the qualification exam of the Liberian Board of Nursing and Midwifery and are now qualified midwives! This brings the total number of HLMT-supported graduate midwives to eight.
HLMT is currently sponsoring nine midwifery students at the Phebe-Esther Bacon College of Health Sciences (PEBCHS). Reports from PEBCHS for each student show that the students are doing well, two of them achieving outstanding results.
Victoria Qualee has recently been selected to receive a HLMT grant when she commences her studies this September. Feedback to HLMT following her selection interview at PEBCHS is glowing.
“Victoria Z. Qualee was born and raised in a small rural village in Nimba County, where the nearest health facility is a three to four-hour walk away. Those long journeys have left an indelible mark on her life: of her twelve pregnancies, only two children survived. Rather than be defeated by her losses, Victoria transformed her grief into purpose. She is now determined to become a midwife so that no woman in her village must endure the same hardship or fear. Victoria combines deep compassion with remarkable intellect and discipline. She has consistently demonstrated academic excellence throughout her education, earning top marks and the respect of her teachers and peers. Victoria has saved what she can toward training, yet the full cost of midwifery education remains beyond her reach. Offering Victoria the opportunity to study would be an investment with profound ripple effects: she will return to serve the mothers and newborns of Nimba County, reducing preventable complications and deaths and strengthening her entire community.”
Despite substantial cuts to the UK government’s development budget, the British Embassy in Liberia has generously raised the funds, through their own fundraising events in Monrovia, to continue to support HLMT, by funding the course and accommodation fees and essential study expenses of the two students they have supported for the past two years. We are very grateful to the Embassy for its efforts and support.
2. Upcoming events
* Live Music Fundraiser, Saturday 10th October 2026 at 7.30 p.m.
HLMT presents another night of top-quality music at Sherwood URC, 1 Edwards Lane NG5 3AA, with three brilliant acts:
- Doc Shellard and Flan: Traditional blues and 1960s rock songs on guitar and harmonica
- Sarah Farrell: Folk songs, covers and original compositions about love, hate, animals, transport and more….
- The Outriders: High octane 3-piece playing classics – rock & roll, rockabilly and country, from Cash to RamonesA popular group of talented musicians performing (mainly) Celtic songs and tunes
PLUS HLMT’s Traditional Liberian Lapa fabric arts & crafts stall …and the inevitable but very popular HLMT raffle! Tickets £12 in advance, available from https://www.trybooking.com/uk/GITN (£15 on the door if not sold out). If you have any leftover foreign currency or out-of-date Sterling, please bring it with you to donate to HLMT.
* Live Music Fundraiser, Saturday 28th November 2026
HLMT presents yet another night of great music at Sherwood URC, 1 Edwards Lane NG5 3AA. Three superb acts:
- Jelly: Feel-good, foot-tapping sounds from across the decades
- Paul Carbuncle: Smooth jazz-funk fusion without any of the jazz-funk stuff. Actually, more like folk-punk
- TV John and the Remotes: Authentic blues. Keys, Guitar, Bass & Congas. Roll up the carpet. Get your dance legs on!
PLUS HLMT’s Traditional Liberian Lapa fabric arts & crafts stall and renowned raffle!
Tickets £12 in advance, available from https://www.trybooking.com/uk/GULC (£15 on the door if not sold out)
* HLMT Live Music Fundraiser 13th February 2027
Early notice of live music fundraiser next February at the main hall, Sherwood URC, Nottingham.
Three great acts will be playing, all back by popular request:
- Cellotapes
- Cobalt Tales
- Dark Horse
Further details to follow later on the HLMT website www.hlmt.org.uk
3. Donations
Life For African Mothers (LFAM) is a charity for which Helen Loewenstein ran in-service training courses for midwives and birth attendants in Liberia in 2016-2018, working with Abdul Bah there.
After working for over 20 years in Sub-Saharan Africa, LFAM decided to close down this year, They had some funds remaining and very generously have donated £6,000 to HLMT. We are very grateful to LFAM for their generosity.The Oxford Health Company, which previously supported LFAM, has also made a very generous donation of £3,000 to HLMT, for which we are very grateful.
4. Leftover currency to donate to HLMT? Ask your family and friends if they have any too!
Do you have any coins or notes in a jam jar or lurking in the back of a drawer, from holidays which are a distant memory, (or maybe some old British currency you’ve been hoarding)???
Bring them along to any of our events or pass on to one of the trustees
or donate online at:
https://www.leftovercurrency.com/charity/the-helen-loewenstein-memorial-trust
HLMT can convert this into funds to pay for the training of midwives in Liberia! This scheme/appeal has already raised over £1100!
5. Recent events
* Live Music Fundraiser with 3 acts: Saturday 28th March 2026
A full house enjoyed another brilliant night of live music at Sherwood URC. Beeston Ceilidh Collective, Bronwyn Westacott and Terminal Five Experience treated the audience to wonderful music with a wide range of powerful songs from a variety of genres.
At the end of the night, over £1250 was raised for HLMT’s work sponsoring Liberian midwifery students in Zorzor. Huge thanks go to the musicians who all played free of charge, to Dave assisted by Nick, Noel and Dorothy on sound, to Sherwood URC, to everyone who came and supported the event and to HLMT trustees and supporters Carolyn, Chris J, Chris R, Glenys, Ingrid, Kate, Michael, Pete, Sam, Stella and Val.
*HLMT Plants and Crafts Stall, Saturday 25th April 2026 outside the Crimson Tree, Sherwood, Nottingham
On a warm Sunny day the HLMT stall attracted good numbers of supporters and the general public. There was a lot to choose from – indoor and outdoor plants, greetings cards, Liberian Lapa fabric arts and crafts and home-made preserves.
At the end of the afternoon, a brilliant amount of over £650 was raised for HLMT funds, all of which will go to training Liberian midwifery students.
Big thanks go to the staff of the Crimson Tree for their support; and to HLMT trustees Carol, Celia, Lorna, Nick, Pete, Pippa and Stella and HLMT supporter Ros for setting up, running the stall and packing up. And to Carol, Celia, Stella, Pulp Friction and several supporters including Pam and Sal for growing and donating a lot of plants.
* Live music fundraiser, Saturday 16th May 2026
HLMT presented another night of wonderful live music to a cheering, appreciative hall. Three acts all played high-quality music:
- Paul Carbuncle: Some call it folk-punk, others call it punk-folk
- Sticky Bones Jones: Just one man and his guitar – expect traditional bluegrass, old-time and some self-penned gems
- Fieldwork Reworked: songs and dance tunes from radical traditions on fiddle, cittern, guitar and percussion
At the end of a brilliant night, over £870 was raised for HLMT funds, all of which will go to train midwifery students in Liberia.
Huge thanks go to all the musicians and sound man Dave Martin, to Sherwood URC, trustees Carol, Nick, Pete, Pippa and Stella for their contributions; to volunteers Carolyn, Chris R, Eileen, Glenys and Val who helped before and during the event; and to several other volunteers who helped clear and pack up afterwards.
*Margheritas for Midwives Saturday 6th June 2026
Sherwood Rise Residents Association fired up their wood-fired pizza oven at Hedley Villas Park to raise funds for HLMT. A rainy day didn’t spoil the friendly, carnival atmosphere, enhanced by delicious pizzas and some great music.
At the end of a great day, the residents association donated £300 to HLMT and the HLMT stall made a further £295. Brilliant! Huge thanks go to Mike and all the Sherwood Rise Residents Association members who supported the event; and to Celia, Pete and Stella from HLMT for staffing the HLMT stall.
6. Standing orders, donations and bequeaths in wills
HLMT aims to recruit at least 2 new midwifery students each academic year.
The mainstay of our fundraising is the regular Standing Orders and one-off donations from supporters, which are crucial to our work and for which we are so grateful. We continue to fundraise, however we still have some way to go before we are financially sustainable into the future.
Our overheads are minimal – there are no paid staff; so almost 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 could 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 HLMT at the address on the form 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 has supported the work of The Helen Loewenstein Memorial Trust www.hlmt.org.uk – also to our trustees, volunteers and supporters, and to Sherwood URC for providing space for us to meet and hold events at minimal cost .
Helen would be astonished but very proud at what is being achieved in her memory!
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