Stevenage Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Phillip Brunton
present

7:30pm, Saturday 23rd February 2008

St Martin's Church, Knebworth, Hertfordshire

Tickets £7 (£5 concessions) available from the orchestra via e-mail
or from Gower House Interiors, 135d London Road, Knebworth.
Telephone 01438 858714

The concert will be held in aid of the Charity Mercy Ships, with a collection following the concert and any proceeds donated.

Background to Mercy Ships

Mercy Ships is an international, Christian charity serving urgent surgical needs through our new hospital ship, the Africa Mercy and at land based clinics in Freetown, Sierra Leone, bringing hope and healing and transforming lives.

Dedicated, volunteer medical and land teams provide surgeries, promote health and well-being, and partner with locals to construct and rebuild health facilities and on water and sanitation projects.

The new ship, the Africa Mercy has been refitted in Newcastle and provides 6 operating theatres, an intensive care unit, a 78 bedded recovery ward and cabin space for over 450 volunteer medical and construction teams and crew. She has recently arrived in Monrovia, Liberia to undertake extensive health programmes, and it is estimated that she will provide around 7,000 much-needed operations every year, as well as taking out community development services on outreach.

The Mercy Ships New Steps Centre, in Freetown, Sierra Leone works with the mobility-disabled, providing treatment, prosthetic limbs and mobility aids, and holistic rehabilitation for those suffering from land mine and war injuries, the effects of polio. At the Aberdeen West African Fistula Centre Mercy Ships treats around 600 women a year, suffering from the effects of prolonged, obstructed labour due to a lack of obstetric care.