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Helen Taylor Thompson was an inspirational charity trustee –
- in establishing Europe’s first Aids hospice
- by founding a charity to educate people in developing countries about Aids
- and by founding a charitable network of social entrepreneurs committed to tackling social problems through business.
The Mildmay
Early in her career, Helen joined the board of the Mildmay Mission Hospital in London. Helen, then as a charity trustee, pioneered The Mildmay to become Europe’s first hospice for people with Aids-related illnesses. It was at The Mildmay in 1989 that Diana, Princess of Wales, famously shook hands with a patient, helping to break the stigma then associated with Aids.
Aids Education
Under Helen’s charity trusteeship The Mildmay set up a palliative care centre in Kampala which within 18 months had 12,000 patients, half of them children. This inspired Helen to found “Education Saves Lives”, originally known as “Thare Machi Education”, for people with HIV in Africa and Asia. It provides DVDs and on-line in the local community’s own language, teaching health, hygiene, agriculture, income generation, child care and birth control.
Social Entrepreneurs
Back home, Helen organised “The Great Banquet”. 33,000 people in London sat down together for a meal with others from all backgrounds. From this Helen as a charity trustee established Community Action Network (CAN), a charity providing development, promotion and support for 700 social entrepreneurs and social enterprises in the United Kingdom.
Awards
Helen was awarded first the MBE then an OBE for her wide-ranging charity trusteeship in the UK and Africa. In 2018 the BBC included her in their “100 women” list of inspiring and influential women from around the world.
Helen Taylor Thompson died aged 96 in September 2020. An inspiration to all charity trustees.
Call me
If you need help turning your inspiration into action, just call me for some practical charity-trustee guidance.
Geoffrey Hand
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