Ambassador

Driven by his love for children and a desire to end their suffering, former president Mandela established the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF) in 1995. The NMCF in South Africa is a thriving voluntary organisation that has now become the leading charity in South Africa, placing the welfare, safety and future of children at its core. The NMCF identify community partners, and support and train them as they work to protect, nurture and enrich the lives of children in their community.

In the foundations goal to develop long term responses to the needs of vulnerable children, the NMCF and their community partners have helped hundreds of thousands of children to a happier and healthier future. Last year alone, through their various programs, they reached over 87,000 children to give them the help and support they need for a better future.

Programs of work include:
  • Child protection and Safety – Supporting those who have been severely abused, who live on the streets or are refugees
  • Youth for Change – Aiming to build the confidence of young people, helping them to develop entrepreneurial skills
  • Sport for Good – Using a range of sports to reach out to young people, develop self esteem, and equip them with leadership, mentoring and coaching skills that could lead to employment
  • Extensive programs to communities where children care for sick parents as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic
This work takes place across all nine provinces of South Africa, and links into national and provincial government initiatives to ensure maximum impact for communities. The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund UK is a registered charity in the UK whose main purpose is to fundraise for and publicise the work of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund in South Africa. I am truly honoured and proud to be an ambassador for this incredible foundation and look forward to raising much needed funds for their vital work across the whole of South Africa!

Our latest project is to build a state-of-the-art specialist paediatric hospital, providing children in Southern Africa, the best quality medical services, irrespective of their social and economic status. Africa as a whole suffers from a dire lack of dedicated children’s hospitals, with only FOUR such facilities on the continent - 2 in Cairo, 1 in Nairobi and 1 in Cape Town. These serve a population of nearly 450 million children!! The current level of paediatric services is overwhelmed by the demand for health services with extremely long waiting times. This compares dismally to the 23 children’s hospitals in Canada, 19 in Australia and 20 in Germany!

Every year the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund UK hosts a Gala Dinner as a celebration of the work which is being carried out in South Africa, and is the most important fundraising

date in our calendar. This year the paediatric hospital is our priority! After all the fun I had co hosting last year’s dinner, I was ecstatic when I was asked to return to host this year! The Gala Dinner will be held at the world renowned Madame Tussauds in London on Friday the 2nd of March 2012. Please email me if you would like to attend or are interested in donating any funds to this great cause!! I appreciate any help and support you can offer!!

Thanks in advance xxx

Susan Gossage at Nelson Mandela Charity Fundraiser