THE Helensburgh branch of a worldwide charity reckons it has raised around £400,000 locally in more than four decades of work to help children around the world.

Members of the local Save The Children fund-raising branch are preparing for their annual afternoon tea at Helensburgh Sailing Club next week.

Many of the local committee members have been involved for nearly all of the four decades of the group's work in Helensburgh.

The first major crisis they worked on was the famine in Ethiopia in 1984, when the group's stall at the town's annual Christmas card sale had a constant queue.

Diana Macintosh, who chairs the local branch, told the Advertiser: "The support for Save the Children in Helensburgh has always been exceptional. We believe we have raised around £400,000 over the years. 

"In addition to our own fund-raising, several local schools, organisations such as the Savoy Musical Theatre Group, various choirs and the United Reformed Church, through their Christmas Tree Festival, have independently raised money for us.

Helensburgh Advertiser:

"Jimmy Mack, the former BBC Radio Scotland presenter, was our president for many years and became actively involved, hosting events such as Gardeners’ Question Time, discos and ceilidhs.

"Our cabaret evenings, directed by one of our members, Pat Robertson, who sadly passed away last year, were renowned.

"We have held many and varied fundraising events. One of our most popular is our summer afternoon tea and this year it is on Friday, June 7 at 2pm, at Helensburgh Sailing Club.

"Each year we have a different speaker and this year it is Marilyn Bevan, former senior flower arranger at Loch Lomond Golf Club and past chair of Helensburgh Flower Club."

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Save the Children was founded by British philanthropist Eglantyne Jebb and her sister, Dorothy Buxton, in London in 1919.

The sisters wanted to protect children and their rights, and more than 100 years later, the charity is still fighting that good fight.

Their first campaign was helping refugees in Europe and Russia after the First World War, and refugee support remains one of the charity's core areas of work.

While it was not originally intended as a permanent organisation, Save the Children soon responded to one emergency after another.

Today their emergency fund allows them to respond within hours of a disaster.

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And the work goes on in 113 countries, as well as working with partners in some nations where it is too dangerous for outside relief agencies.

Diana added: "Over a century on from when Save the Children was first founded, children need the help of the charity more than ever.

"More children are living in conflict now than at any time in the past 25 years. Millions more are not getting the vaccinations they need to grow up healthy, or the care they need when they are sick, and they are being denied an education.

Helensburgh Advertiser:

"The huge support the local committee gets from the people of Helensburgh helps to make possible Save the Children’s essential work throughout the world."

For tickets to the afternoon tea (priced £15), contact Diana on 07889 885990.