9 March 2006

‘time4women Against Hunger’ reception at Coutts & Co

Action Against Hunger raised over £30,000 last night during a reception at the headquarters of Coutts & Co. on the Strand. Coutts & Co. invited all-women fundraising organisation time4women to collaborate with Action Against Hunger UK and work together to launch this appeal.

The reception was held on International Women’s Day to launch the charity’s ‘Women Against Hunger’ appeal. Celebrity guests included Ulrika Jonsson, Bill Nighy and Amy Lamé.

Over 50 plates personally decorated by cartoonists and top chefs were auctioned together with dining vouchers for their restaurants and accompanied by a bottle of Penfolds wine. An auction including luxurious prizes from Taittinger Champagne, Jimmy Choo as well as breakfast on the GMTV sofa raised close to £20,000.

The funds raised from this reception will be channelled to a number of projects aimed at women, ranging from education on nutrition and food sustainability to helping women in their daily struggles to keep their families fed.

Julienne Ho, Action Against Hunger Events Manager, comments: “Women account for two thirds of the 1.2 billion people currently living in extreme poverty; at the same time women play an important role for securing food for the household. We are very grateful for having had the opportunity to work alongside time4women and Coutts & Co. to launch the ‘Women Against Hunger’ appeal. The evening proved a great success with all funds raised going to support women in our programmes worldwide.”

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NOTES:

1. Women Against Hunger: Recognised worldwide as a leader in the fight against hunger, Action Against Hunger delivers programmes in over 40 countries, specialising in emergency situations of war, conflict, natural disasters and longer-term assistance to people in distress. Action Against Hunger's ultimate goal is to help vulnerable populations regain their self-sufficiency for long-term sustainability.

"Women Against Hunger " is an initiative led by Action Against Hunger UK. It works with women in the UK to raise awareness about the situation of women in some of the poorest countries in the world, and to identify, fund and implement appropriate projects which improve their quality of life and provide opportunities for empowerment. Funds raised at this event will be used by Action Against Hunger mainly to fund projects in a selection of countries where it works, which will provide direct benefits to women, such as income generation projects, agricultural production and training projects, nutrition and health education, formation or strengthening of women's groups and support of their strategy, and ensuring better and easier access for women to clean water and to sanitation facilities.

2. time4women is a charitable organisation set up by a group of women to raise funds and/or give their expertise to help support women who are in need and who are socially excluded, either financially or through their status, prejudice, or abuse. We are currently working on support initiatives for women with HIV/Aids, mental and physical abuse victims, women against hunger, women in recovery from substance abuse, and women in prison and ex-prisoners trying to rebuild their lives.

time4women is administered and hosted by the Charities Trust.

time4women are: Dr Jane Anderson (Homerton Hospital), Mrs Emma Edelson (Oxygen Ventures), Ms Tessa Laws (Rosenblatt Solicitors), Dr Tara Lindstedt (e-strategy Advisors), Mrs Lise Meyer (scriptwriter), Ms Lorraine O’Brien (CEO Charities Trust), Dr Rumi Peynovska, Professor Lesley Regan (Head of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, St Mary’s; Deputy Head of Surgery & Oncology, Imperial College) and Ms Nasrin Sharifi (The Pathfinder Network).

3. Coutts & Co: Coutts is the international private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and manages assets for some 98,000 clients worldwide. Sarah Deaves is the Chief Executive of Coutts UK, managing all areas that fall under this banner, including representative offices in Dubai and Monaco, 6 offices within London, and 16 regional offices in key locations across the country. There has been a long and strong tradition of women’s involvement in philanthropy at Coutts, dating back to the early 19th century: Born in 1814, Angela Burdett, granddaughter and heiress of Thomas Coutts, introduced luncheon vouchers into the bank as she discovered that some clerks were not getting a “good midday meal”. In 1864 these luncheons became a regular item in the expenses account. Angela was also a great philanthropist and worked with Charles Dickens on numerous projects to assist the poor of London. Today, Coutts has female representation on its main board, a number of female executives as well as many female senior managers.

For more information on Action Against Hunger's work with women, please click here.

Please click here to read our Hunger Watch publication "Women and Hunger".