I am running the London Marathon for the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. It is the equivalent of Great Ormond Street in Africa.

I became familiar with this charity through Caroline Hall, a parent in Eliza’s year at Farleigh, who is a paediatric doctor. She lived in South Africa and worked there and has told me how greatly underfunded it is. It is the first, and only, hospital in South Africa dedicated entirely to children’s healthcare. 

The hospital treats 260,000 patients every year with over 90% coming from poor and marginalised communities right across Africa. It is one of a few specialist Children’s Hospitals south of Cairo. The UK has 27.

Not only does the Hospital provide specialised paediatric care to seriously ill children, but also undertakes high level medical training both locally and internationally, and conducts ground-breaking research into childhood illnesses which has global influence. It is an academic hospital, being part of the University of Cape Town’s Institute of Child Health.

Jemima x