Looking back in 2009
We have had an amazing nine months since we launched in April 2009 and thank you for your support so far. There remains a huge amount to do to reach our first goal of ensuring that everyone person who needs a bed net in Africa has one by the end of 2010 and ultimate goal end to malaria deaths by 2015.
In the meantime, we wanted to share our best bits of 2009 with you..
April
We launched with the support of British sports stars David Beckham, Andy Murray and Denise Lewis, founding members of our Leadership Council. David and Andy staged a sporting first at Wembley Stadium playing tennis and football over the world’s longest mosquito net. They also took a visit with Denise to Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. They were photographed in front of the iconic door of No.10 which was draped in a mosquito net.
Watch Andy Murray and David Beckham at Wembley:
May
We were selected as recipient charity for Sky’s Red Button campaign ahead of the UEFA Champions League final. An advert featuring David Beckham ran on Sky Sports over several days, educating fans on the impact of malaria in Africa and how we can all make a difference in ending this preventable disease.
June
Jo Yirrell, Special Ambassador for Malaria No More UK, retraced the steps of her son Harry, who tragically died of malaria, having contracted the deadly strain while volunteering in Ghana. On returning from Ghana, Jo met with the Prime Minister and this moment is featured in her documentary "Our World: Malaria, A Mother’s Journey" which aired numerous times on the BBC and generated great awareness via coverage in the Daily Mail and on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.
July
Both the Labour and Conservative Parties issued policy papers on international development which included messages of support on malaria reduction. The Labour party pledged an additional 30 million bed nets and the Conservative party £500 million.
We also partnered with the Malaria Awareness Campaign who commissioned luxury jeweller Stephen Webster to design a Mosquito ring. The ring highlights the serious issue of malaria amongst UK travellers and raises funds for Malaria No More UK.
August
Youssou N’Dour, a Malaria No More board member, conducted a UK Media tour to highlight how he uses his music and influence to raise awareness in the fight against malaria in Africa. His comments were covered in the Financial Times, on English aljeeezera.net and in an interview on Channel 4.
Our very own 'Mosquito man' made his first appearance, generating buzz around prominent sites in London and awareness via our short film.
September
We collaborated with Comic Relief and ONE as leading partners for United Against Malaria, an international football focussed which will culminate with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Victoria Beckham arrived for London Fashion Week wearing one of Stephen Webster's limited edition mosquito rings. The rings sold out on our partner ASOS.com's site in just three days with 100% funds from the sales going to Africa!
October
David Brabham, winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours and newly crowned champion of the 2009 American Le Mans Series is announced as a Special Ambassador for Malaria No More UK. Brabham had already undertaken fantastic work supporting Malaria No More in the US with the ‘Miles To End Malaria’ initiative. He is now spearheading the Celebrity Karting Challenge event being held during Autosport International at Birmingham's NEC in January 2010 in support of Malaria No More UK.
November
We are selected as the recipient charity for ITV's "I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!" King of the Jungle Gino D'Acampo, Hollywood legend George Hamilton and British artist Sam Fox have all spoken out about why they are passionate about ending malaria and supporting our charity. Read more here.
We make our first grant in Africa to save lives and fight malaria. It was a jointly funded project with Malaria no More in the US to the Clinton Foundation in Botswana.
December
The second collection of Stephen Webster's limited edition mosquito rings sold out on ASOS.com in under 3 hours – a record for the online store. Read more here
Andy Murray donated 100 pieces of memorabilia to raise funds and awareness for Malaria No More UK.
We supported Armajaro, a major coffee and cocoa company in a pioneering project to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farming communities by distributing 50,000 mosquito bed nets to farmers in the cocoa-growing areas of Ghana.
We created our first Christmas cards! You can personalise and send onto your friends.
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