‘Precious Cargo’. The project will be launched at Hampton Court Palace, London, on Saturday 28th September 2013. The project has been developed in partnership with StudentMidwives.Net, the Nationwide Association of Bloodbikes, together with RCM student and practicing midwives and other healthcare workers around the country.
The objective of ‘Precious Cargo’ is to send a scroll on a global journey visiting those involved with midwifery starting with a tour of UK hospitals and maternity units collecting signatures (and donations) as it travels. As a boost to the project, Guinness World Records has created a new category for “Most Signatures on a Scroll” based on the Precious Cargo initiative and the project will be the first to set the world record.Around the world, 800 women die every day from childbirth-related complications - many of which are avoidable - andthose in rural areas are most at risk (WHO 2013). During childbirth, timing can be critical and for rural areas thegeography of the landscape can mean that there are significant challenges for professionals to get to those in need.
Motorcycle Outreach works with Health Ministries and local projects in developing countries to provide properly managed and maintained motorcycles for use by healthcare workers. This enables mobile teams to provide health care
to people living in remote villages where road access is poor. The purpose of the Precious Cargo project is to raise funds
to enable Motorcycle Outreach to be able to continue to support its existing project and expand its operations to other parts of the world.
The idea is based on a previous fund-raising project run by the Women’s International Motorcycling Association that raised £35,000 for the street kids of India.
Regional members of the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes in England and Scotland will be supporting the project by providing a “courier service” for the scroll (the precious cargo) between hospitals. The student midwives/midwives will facilitate the signing of the scroll during its 48 hour visit at each location.
The scroll’s journey starts from Hampton Court Palace, London, on Saturday 28th September 2013. From there, it will do a tour of approximately 40 hospitals across the country until the end of November. The UK tour will be a “pilot”Motorcycle Outreach: C/O Po Box 97, Camborne, Cornwall, TR14 4BP. www.motorcycleoutreach.org
info@motorcycleoutreach.org 07785 543924 / 07979 757484
project and if successful, the scroll will embark on an international tour that is expected to begin in the New Year. This will include a visit to the International Confederation of Midwives triennial conference in Prague in 2014 to promote
the project to the ICM’s 108 member countries.
The project is supported by the RCM, the UK Association of Milk Banks (UKAMB), Association of Radical Midwives (ARM), White Ribbon Alliance and by prominent figures in the midwifery profession including Sheena Byrom OBE, a leading independent midwife, and Frances Day Stirk, President of the ICM.
The website for the project can be found at www.precious-cargo.org . People who sign the scroll will be invited to make a donation either locally during the visit or online to Virgin Money Giving, reached via the Precious Cargo website. For more information, contact the project coordinator, Ron Common at ron@motorcycleoutreach.org
