About Facing the World

Facing the World is here to offer facial surgery to children from poor countries across the globe that have no chance of finding the surgery to help them overcome their deformity. Their challenges often lead to numerous other related problems like deafness and blindness if not treated early. In most cases their facial disfigurement means that, despite being otherwise like you or I, they are unable to take part in schooling, fall in love or experience many of the joys of a normal life.

Facing the World aims to help children with complex craniofacial challenges who live in countries that do not have the facilities, infrastructure or experience to help them. For the most part this means that these children need to be operated on in the UK, although the surgeons have also worked abroad usually in partnership with charities such as Operation Smile, The Red Cross and others.

Facing the World aims to work in conjunction with other organisations that offer local medical assistance to these children, primarily to monitor and assist their progress once they have returned home.

Facing the World will also support the development of new ways of treating these devastating facial deformities through research.

Facing the World has the resources, the infrastructure, the desire and the determination to change the life of these children who would otherwise have no hope.

Thank you for helping Facing The World provide surgery to these children living with the problem of facial deformity. Your help could mean putting a smile on the face of a child.

Our history

Facing the World was established in 2002 by Norman Waterhouse and Martin Kelly, two British craniofacial surgeons. Both these surgeons have travelled extensively, volunteering their time and skills in the developing world. While volunteering, both realised and were similarly touched by the plight of the children that they were unable to help as a result of lack of funds and local infrastructure. 

As a result of their experiences, they decided to establish a charity that could help these excluded children, making it possible for at least some of the worst cases to benefit from the skills of the surgeons involved. The only way to do this was by means of funds raised through a special charitable organisation.

Waterhouse is a consultant surgeon at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital where he leads the specialist Craniofacial Unit. Kelly is a consultant surgeon at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital and at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London. The majority of the trustees of the charity are consultant specialists in the field of cranio-facial surgery. All the doctors volunteer their skills to the charity.