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Vital role played by Mercy Ships

Members of Moor’s Edge U3A were given an insight into the work of Mercy Ships at their recent meeting.

Mike Temple from Mercy Ships explained that the charity has two of the largest hospital ships in the world: Africa Mercy and Global Mercy. Worldwide five billion people lack access to safe, affordable, timely surgery. Many of them live in developing countries where healthcare infrastructure is limited or nonexistent, or where there’ s a shortage of trained healthcare providers.

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Mike explained that fortunately, more than 44% of the world’ s population lives within 100 miles of a coast –which is why Mercy Ships uses modern hospital ships to bring world-class volunteer medical professionals directly to the places they’ re needed most.

The charity has had up to three ships in service since 1978. The Global Mercy is the largest charity-run hospital ship in the world. The 174-metre, 37,000-ton ship has six operating rooms and houses over 600 volunteers from around the globe representing many disciplines including surgeons, maritime crew, cooks, teachers, electricians, the host staff and more.

The ship also features a 682-seat auditorium, student academy, café, shop and library – all of which have been designed to accommodate up to 950 crew onboard when docked in port.

The Africa Mercy contains five operating rooms, a four-bed recovery area, intensive care for up to five patients, and 80 ward beds. It houses about 400 volunteer crew members from up to 40 nations. Acquired in 1999 through a donation from the Balcraig Foundation, the former Danish rail ferry Dronning Ingrid was refurbished specifically for our mission and named the Africa Mercy in April 2000. For more information visit www.mercyships. org.uk

Guest speaker at the meeting on April 14 will be Brenda Loosemore, who topic will be ‘Ladies of Laughter.’ Moor’s Edge U3A meets on the second Friday of the month at the Woolwell Centre, starting at 2.30pm. There are a variety of special interest groups which the retired or semi-retired can join including country dancing, garden visits, scrabble and jazz.

For more details visit www.u3asites.org.uk/moorsedge/

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