2004: Ann Scarborough MBE

Ann and her husband lived in Malawi for many years. She began to give medical help to the villagers who lived and worked there and so many people came to them for help that she built a clinic; not that she arranged for professional builders, she built it herself with some help from a bricklayer. She was then able to become affiliated to a local charity and widen the scope of her activity.

In 1993 when her husband retired they returned to Bradford on Avon but she did not forget the people of Malawi. As a Trustee of the Malawi charity, Ann spends eight months collecting and packing donations, then taking them out to Malawi and personally distributing them so they always reach those with the greatest need. These donations range from redundant medical and surgical equipment such as X-ray machines and wheelchairs, to gifts of blankets and textiles for sewing. Ann orders a container and, with the help of friends, packs every item to arrive in Africa undamaged. When the container arrives in Malawi Ann flies out to supervise the distribution. She does not delegate the work as she needs to be sure that every item goes to the people who requested it or whom she believes have the greatest need. The blankets are given by Ann mainly to elderly ladies who own almost nothing and who have no family to support them.

An important part of the annual consignment is gifts of teddy bears, knitted by groups of elderly women in England. These toys are given to children who have sometimes never had a toy before and do not know how to play. Ann shows them how.

Back home in Wiltshire Ann often gives talks to groups about the work and people now know where to give any surplus equipment and textiles. She is a woman who devotes her phenomenal energy to improving the lives of people who have so little.