Two ‘stars’ helped to launch the new Wellington £1million Appeal 2010 at London’s Landmark Hotel on Thursday 14th January. The stars were Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox and seven year old Sam Thomas, who has Type 1 diabetes. Sam helped to make a film for the appeal.
And the Wellington Hospital’s new charity appeal was immediately given a big donation to begin the quest for £1 million to help two deserving charities.
The British Red Cross fund supports HIV/AIDS orphans in the Kwa Zulu Natal region of South Africa and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation supports young people in the UK suffering from type 1 diabetes and it also funds research into the disease.
The two ‘stars’ each accepted £25,000 in cheques from the President and Chief Executive of HCA International (the owners of the Wellington Hospital), Mr Michael Neeb who said he couldn’t think of two more deserving charities.
Annie Lennox said the money would bring huge benefits for the children the charities were supporting. “I also want to jump up and down when I see a child who was so close to death and that magnificent transformation that I know that can happen with the right kind of medical intervention,” said Annie.
Speaking on behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 17 year old Leo Rifkind, who has Type 1 diabetes himself, told the audience how the charity’s research was bringing the world closer to a cure for the disease but much still needed to be done and he thanked the audience for supporting the appeal.
“By supporting the JDRF you are supporting research that will bring us a little bit closer to a cure for Type 1 diabetes and I hope you also realise you are supporting us, you are supporting our lives and our future.”
Keith Hague, Chief Executive of The Wellington Hospital and Chairman of the Appeal said, “We at The Wellington want to give something back to the community and these charities do some amazing work. Every pound we raise will make a big difference, to children’s lives.”
You can watch the appeal video here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lviTww0Ru4A and watch Annie’s speech here