‘60 FOR 60’ Sierra Leone Appeal : RCGP and VSO - family medicine at the heart of global health

As part of our 60th anniversary celebrations, the RCGP has launched its first ever international appeal. Every pound donated - be it £1 or £1m! - will make a real difference and help us effect lasting change.

Our ambition is to leave a legacy which empowers health workers in sub-Saharan Africa to deliver and teach effective primary care in their own communities.

We want to improve maternal and child health mortality rates through the provision of sustainable, community-based health promotion and training programmes.

Initial focus of our efforts is Sierra Leone, a country which is still recovering from a brutal 10-year civil war and whose health indicators are among the poorest in the world.

£60,000 will see the project run for two years, bringing improved healthcare and long-lasting skills to tens of thousands of people. If you think £60,000 sounds a lot, consider that we could reach this in a day if each of our 46,000 members gave just £1.30 - that's the equivalent of half a cup of coffee or a bottle of fruit juice during our working day.

Our first milestone is just £30,000 by March 2013. This enables us to launch the project and send the first team of volunteer GPs to Sierra Leone.  Every pound matters - there is no minimum or maximum donation!

Working with VSO our project takes a high-impact approach which brings people together to share skills, build capabilities, promote international understanding - changing lives to make the world a fairer place for all.

Any funds raised surplus to project needs will be put towards other RCGP International work in sub-Saharan Africa.