Mercyships's blog

It’s not everyday that Mercy Ships volunteer doctors get a chance to gather together outside of the operating theatre, but the British Association of Oral and Maxillo Facial Surgeons in Cardiff Wales earlier this month provided just that opportunity.

A handful of Mercy Ships doctors and surgeons gathered from around the UK to join Dr. Gary Parker, Africa Mercy Chief Medical Officer and maxillofacial surgeon, as he presented the opening lecture at the association’s annual scientific meeting in Cardiff City Hall.  read more »

Mercy Ships is celebrating International Day of the African Child (16th June). International Day of the African Child pays tribute to the ten thousand courageous African school children, who marched the streets of Soweto in 1976 in protest against the poor quality of their education. It is also a day to promote the education, identity, welfare, status and other civil rights of children in Africa.  read more »

THREE students from Bath have marked the end of their A Levels by getting on their bikes and pedaling from France to Gibraltar in aid of Mercy Ships.

Jake Tempo, Alex Wildy and Chazz Fisher from Ralph Allen School have swapped exam stress and revision for a 2,000-mile charity ride from St Malo in Brittany to the famous Rock - a journey that will take roughly six weeks. The three friends are using the marathon journey to raise £6,000 for Mercy Ships.  read more »

Ann Gloag, co-founder of the Stagecoach transport company, has joined the board of Mercy Ships UK, after supporting the charity for almost 10 years.

Already an international board member for Mercy Ships, Ann has joined the UK board following the successful launch of its biggest-ever ship last year.

The Africa Mercy, formerly a rail ferry, was purchased for the charity by Ann Gloag in 1999 for over £4million and is now the world’s largest charity hospital ship.  read more »

With the help of friends from the Ballyholme Yacht Club, Christine and Brian Martin are organizing a sponsored sail from Bangor, North Wales to Bangor, Northern Ireland, in aid of Mercy Ships.  read more »

All along the backwater,
Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling,
Up tails all!

Kenneth Grahame’s Ducks’ Ditty will be echoed at Molesey Lock, near Hampton Court Palace, London on 31st August when 250,000 record-breaking ducks will be launched at the Great British Duck Race in aid of charity.

The ducks will float 1 km down the river to Albany Reach, taking around an hour and a half, where the first numbered duck to cross the finish line will be awarded a prize of £10,000. 30 further prizes are offered by the event organizers and sponsors.  read more »

As surgeries begin onboard the Africa Mercy, the wards are once again filling up. The atmosphere is inviting, almost cheerful. Bandaged patients chat quietly with translators. A young woman scheduled to have a free surgery on her baseball-sized thyroid goitre joins in conversation. Nurses work efficiently in the background, administering medicine, checking patient vitals and smiling throughout their work.  read more »

As Volunteers’ Week in the UK comes to a close, Mercy Ships, the is recognising the thousands of volunteers who have served on board its ships over the last 30 years, including hundreds of people from the UK.  read more »

Mercy Ships is celebrating International Nurses Day today (12th May) by extending a heartfelt thanks to the thousands of nurses who have volunteered onboard the ship over the last 30 years.

International Nurses Day is celebrated every year on the birth date of Florence Nightingale. It is a day to recognise and learn about the important work that nurses do and a day to celebrate worldwide the nursing profession.  read more »

About 40 hopeful women lined up dockside the Africa Mercy for vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) screening. Surgeons reviewed each case to see which women were good candidates for free onboard surgery. The surgery would repair damage caused during obstructed labour that resulted in a child being stillborn, and the woman becoming incontinent.  read more »