Can you help Anne Merriman?

Regular readers of our newsletters will have heard of the remarkable Dr Anne Merriman MBE.

Anne is the founder of Hospice Africa, a Liverpool-based charity. Only last year she appeared on BBC’s North West Tonight talking about her work. You can watch the film here.

Anne is dependent on the generous donations the charity receives from businesses and members of the public. The current crisis has, inevitably, led to a dramatic fall in donations, not least caused by having to close her charity shops in Liverpool and France.

So, following in the mighty footsteps of the remarkable Captain Tom Moore (now an Honorary Colonel), Anne has been walking to raise money.

She is doing a sponsored walk on her balcony at her home in Kampala, Uganda, with 20 laps per day, for 25 days, finishing on her 85th birthday on May 13.

Anne has set up a donation page for anyone who feels able to support her at this time – each donation, however small,allows Anne to carry on supporting cancer patients in Africa. 

She initially set herself a target of £10,000 but within hours this had been smashed – it currently stands at almost £30,000 but Anne has pledged to continue walking until her birthday!

Anne said: “Africa has millions of cancer patients who do not receive any form of treatment for their cancers. They suffer terribly, suffering that we, in the developed world, never see.

“Since 1993, palliative care has moved in Africa, from 3 countries in 1993 to 35 countries. In Uganda, Hospice Africa has looked after 33,000 patients with cancer and/or HIV. Palliative care is available in nearly all districts and 90% of districts have a palliative care leader who can prescribe oral morphine for the severest pains of cancer.”

Anne’s Virgin Money Giving page is here.