The “Precious Cargo” project aims to help reduce worldwide maternal death rates by collecting as many signatures as possible on the scroll and raising money. Every day approximately 800 women die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Ninety-nine per cent of these deaths occur in developing countries and most are preventable.
The project was first launched at Hampton Court Palace on 28th September, and since then, the scroll has been couriered around the country by the healthcare logistics charity Motorcycle Outreach. They hope to take the scroll to as many UK hospitals as possible and on Thursday it will arrive at the Rosie.
Midwife Carl Allen who works at the Rosie said “The whole team here is very keen to support such a great cause. We hope the scroll will reach its target of 10,000 signatures and set a new world record! The money raised will be truly life changing because it will help safeguard maternal wellbeing in developing countries”.
As a boost to the project, Guinness World Records has created a new category for “Most Signatures on a Scroll” based on the Precious Cargo initiative and the project will be the first to set the world record.
The Precious Cargo project scroll of signatures will arrive, by blood bike, at Addenbrooke’s tomorrow Thursday November 21st at 8pm. The following day it will go to Anglia Ruskin University where student midwives are being trained and it will collect more signatures there.
On Saturday 23rd November the scroll will be at Addenbrooke's hospital again in the main concourse, accompanied by a cake sale. The scroll is being passed on to Hinchingbrook Hospital on Sunday 24th November.
Student Samantha Moore said “Precious Cargo is a wonderful project that student midwives are proud to support across the UK. It has bought together a national community of students and has raised our awareness of international perspectives in midwifery. The project is raising money that will save lives and we are keen to support this at the Rosie.“
- Around the world, 800 women die of childbirth-related complications every day, many of which are avoidable, and those in rural areas are most at risk (WHO 2013). During childbirth, timing can be critical and for rural areas the geography of the landscape can mean that there are significant challenges for professionals to get to those in need.
- Motorcycle Outreach works with Health Ministries and local projects in developing countries to provide properly managed and maintained motorcycles for use by healthcare workers. This enables mobile teams to provide health care to people living in remote villages where road access is poor. The purpose of the Precious Cargo project is to raise funds to enable Motorcycle Outreach to be able to continue to support its existing project and expand its operations to other parts of the world.
- The website for the project can be found at www.precious-cargo.org . People who sign the scroll will be invited to make a donation either locally during the visit or online to Virgin Money Giving, reached via the Precious Cargo website. For more information, contact the project coordinator, Ron Common at ron@motorcycleoutreach.org
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For more information contact louise.gosling@addenbrookes.nhs.uk tel: 01223 586 730
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