Saturday 14th March, 12 to 6 p.m. Rough Trade African Market
A brilliant African Market despite the impact of Coronavirus, thanks to the enterprise of Aisha, Saz and the SHEAfriq collective. The HLMT sold £177.50 worth of products, so over £150 towards midwifery-training funds. Thank you to Pippa for arranging the HLMT stall. In order of appearance (!) many thanks to Roger, Stella, Pete, Chris, Suzanna, Ros, Jayney, Denise and Julian for staffing the HLMT stall over a long, enjoyable day.
Sunday, 8th March 2020 IWD Nottingham Secular Society meeting
HLMT had a stall, and Carol and Stella spoke about the Helen and the Trust’s work at the excellent International Women’s Day gathering organised by Nottingham Secular Society. The other inspirational speakers were London-based human rights lawyer Ana González, Megan Manson, National Secular Society campaigns officer, Yasmin Rehman, Chief Executive Officer at Juno Women’s Aid and Lillian Greenwood, Nottingham South M.P. And the HLMT raised £175 towards midwifery training at the meeting.
Musical Fundraiser for the HLMT Saturday 7th March 2020
A wonderful night of entertainment! Brilliant singing from Rosa’s Lovely Daughters and Angela Warren accompanied by Paul Quinn; and powerful poems, readings and presentations from Angie Mindel, Carol McCormick and Stella Nickolay. A sell-out audience rocked to the Midwives’ Song and to “Sisters are Doin’ it for Themselves” at the end of a brilliant evening on the eve of International Women’s Day. And HLMT had a stall staffed by Celia, Carol and Stella. Result of the evening – a magnificent £1500 raised for HLMT – which will fund a grant to a trainee midwife for two years! Fantastic! Thank you Rosa’s Lovely Daughters xx
Sunday April 26th Sponsored walk to raise money for the HLMT
Judith Green from the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is organising this sponsored walk and has put out the following appeal: “Dear colleagues, I am looking to get a sponsored walk organised for Sunday April 26th to fundraise to support midwifery training in Liberia. Together we can make a difference to reducing mother and child mortality in Liberia by increasing the level of trained midwives across the country and particularly in the rural areas. If you would like to join the team please e mail me and I will add you to the list and send you a sponsorship form and further details. We intend to walk 10 miles (route to be decided) but will be somewhere in Derbyshire and preferably flat! This is a great opportunity for some exercise and raising funds for a great cause so please do consider it. Well behaved dogs welcome.” If you’re interested, please contact Judith Green Judith.green@nuh.nhs.uk
Cycle Stall Saturday March 7th 2020
HLMT trustee Nick and HLMT supporter Mossop spent a day at a vegan market at Sneinton Market selling and repairing cycles. They donated the £50 profit made during the day to HLMT funds. This will pay for accommodation for a trainee midwife for a semester
News from The Helen Loewenstein Memorial Trust, February 2020
We are delighted to tell you that since we last emailed many of you in June 2019, the Trust has continued to gain momentum, as you will see below.
In June we explained that, in order to send you future emails and newsletters, the Trust needs to get your permission to hold your email address We asked you please reply with the words, “I agree to the Helen Loewenstein Memorial Trust holding my contact details securely and from time to time sending me information including updates, newsletters and information about events.” Only half of the supporters we emailed replied. If you think that you may not have replied in June, please email the words “I agree to the HLMT holding my contact details securely” or sign up for our newsletter on the website. We require your agreement in order to satisfy data protection requirements. If we do not receive your permission, we will not be able to send you updates, newsletters or information about events.
We have recently launched our new and much-expanded website, www.hlmt.org.uk . Please go to it and have a look. You will find information about HLMT – forthcoming and past events; the trustees; Liberia; Helen Loewenstein; how you can get involved; and much more. The website was designed by Alex Mottier, who donated a lot of time and great skills to do the work voluntarily. We would be really interested in any feedback you have about the website.
As a result of the generous donations of so many of you – friends and supporters – the HLMT has continued to grow. We haven’t been able to contact everyone personally to say “thank you” because we are still taken up with the impact of Helen’s death, but if you have contributed, please accept this as a very BIG thank you: together with the other Trustees we are so grateful for all the support we and the Trust have received. Supporters have also organised a range of fundraising activities, as you will be able to see on our website, www.hlmt.org.uk . Due to your generosity and hard work, the HLMT is a third of our way towards our target of £100,000, having raised over £35,000. That’s a great start in less than a year. We plan to invest the funds ethically in order to gradually increase the number of midwifery students we can support using the income generated.
There are a number of events in the pipeline. The first is a music and words fundraiser on Saturday March 7th. Rosa’s Lovely Daughters & Friends invite you celebrate International Women’s Day with songs, poetry and readings, at the same time assisting the HLMT to support Liberian midwifery training. Please put the date in your diary and buy a ticket from Rosa’s to avoid disappointment. Details of this and other events are on the “Upcoming Events” section of the website and will be regularly updated.
We leave the best news until last! It is very likely that the first midwifery student to receive a grant from the Helen Loewenstein Memorial Trust will be recruited at the end of the current school year in June, and will start training in September this year at the Esther Bacon School of Nursing and Midwifery in Liberia. HLMT trustee and consultant midwife, Carol McCormick and her colleague, Maureen Raynor from Leicester De Montfort University, visited Liberia in January 2020 with the aid of a grant from a charitable trust. The purpose of the visit was to build relationship with partners, establish procedures for the recruitment of trainee midwives who HLMT will support with grants, and gather information about initial midwifery training in Liberia. Supported by Abdul-Rahman Bah, Helen’s colleague and friend, they met the Liberian Minister of Health, the Directress of the Esther Bacon School of Nursing and Midwifery, the President of the Liberia Midwife Association, the Director of the Liberia Board for Nursing and Midwifery, key officials in the Ministry of Health, and the British Ambassador. Some details are still to be finalised, further work will be done with colleagues in Liberia. HLMT trustees will meet in February to make decisions and to progress the work undertaken by Carol and Maureen with Abdul’s wonderful support. This is great news.
If you haven’t donated and even if you have, could we please urge you to consider filling in and sending us a Standing Order form (copy attached) – regular monthly income, no matter how small or big, adds up, and our target is to meet the annual cost of training at least one midwife (just under £1000 per midwife) through standing orders. We would also ask you to please consider including The Helen Loewenstein Memorial Trust in your will.
If there is anything else you’d like to know, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
For now, thanks again for your continued support – please don’t forget to email back by return to agree for us to keep your contact details.
With very best wishes,
Pete Stella and Nick (on behalf of the HLMT Trustees).
Saturday, 14th November 2020 Boots Orchestra in Nottingham – initial notice
The Boots Orchestra in Nottingham have kindly agreed to organise a fundraising concert for the HLMT
Venue: St. John the Baptist Church, Carlton
Date: Saturday, 14th November 2020
Time: 7.30pm
Full programme details to follow in due course.
Very positive visit to Liberia
HLMT trustee and consultant midwife, Carol McCormick and her colleague, Maureen Raynor from Leicester De Montfort University, visited Liberia in January 2020. The purpose of the visit was to build relationship with partners, establish procedures for the recruitment of trainee midwives who HLMT will support with grants, and gather information about initial midwifery training in Liberia.
Supported by Abdul-rahman Bah, they met the Liberian Minister of Health, Dr Wilhelmina Jallah, the Directress of the Esther Bacon School of Nursing and Midwifery, Willimai Weetol-Geninyan, the President of the Liberia Midwife Association, Wilhelmina Flomo, the Director of the Liberia Board for Nursing and Midwifery, Mary Tiah, John Harris and others at the Ministry of Health, and the British Ambassador David Belgrove.
They also visited several hospitals and clinics where Helen Loewenstein had worked, and met a number of people who had known, worked with or befriended Helen.
The visit was extremely useful and very successful. The upshot is that it looks very likely that the first student to receive a grant from the Helen Loewenstein Memorial Trust will be recruited at the end of the current school year in June, and will start training in September this year at the Esther Bacon School.
Some details are still to be finalised, further work will be done with colleagues in Liberia and the HLMT trustees will meet in February to make decisions and to progress the work that Carol and Maureen have done so brilliantly with Abdul’s wonderful support. This is great news.
New Website
Our new website will be live early January!