Charity Registration number: 1112464

The Kentown Wizard Foundation has been supporting Feet First since 2017 but until recently could only observe the work of this fantastic charity from a distance.

However, in February our CEO Margaret Ingram had the opportunity to visit Steve Mannion and his team of UK volunteers at the hospital in Nkharta Bay, Malawi where they were working. Below is an account of Margaret’s visit in her own words.

Being able to talk to the Feet First team in the Nkharta Bay hospital and to see some of the challenges they face working in the North of the country was illuminating and very worthwhile. While I was there, I saw the frustration of the team when a three-hour power cut (a regular occurrence) meant that the operation of a young child had to be postponed until the following day. These visits by Steve and his team are short so every hour counts – to lose precious time in this way was heart-breaking. I also met a wonderful Malawian Anaesthesia Clinical Officer who, in theory, was on maternity leave but who was working tirelessly simply because without an anaesthetist no operations can take place and there was no one else in the hospital to do the job.

Experiencing the roads in that part of Malawi was also an education for me and I was left in no doubt that the grant we made to Feet First last year for the purchase of two Four by Four vehicles was very good use of the foundation’s money.

At the end of my trip I felt privileged to have been able to see first-hand what a difference this small charity is making to the lives of Malawian children born with club foot. I am impressed beyond words by the commitment and dedication of everyone involved.

www.feetfirstworldwide.com

Charity Registration number: 1112464

We are thrilled to announce that The Kentown Wizard Foundation will be gifting Feet First Worldwide with 2 new vehicles. The two Toyota Hilux 4x4s will replace two 15 year old vehicles, providing a safer passage for volunteers across dangerous roads in order to perform life saving surgery on the children of Malawi.

These cars are essential for the medics who continue to make dangerous journeys to set up mobile operating theatres in remote villages where children with club foot and other debilitating conditions can be treated

“We are thrilled with the cars, they are robust and will each carry a team of five in relative comfort along with all our equipment and baggage, they have also been fitted with extra safety features such as roll bars and collision bars front and rear.” – Steve Mannion, the founder of Feet First Worldwide:

Steve Mannion is an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon based in Blackpool. He spends 6 months of his year travelling to the developing world, helping to change the lives of children born with Clubfoot.

“We are extremely happy to have been able to help Steve and his team with the new vehicles, it will also save the charity excessive repair bills so that money can now be spent on more lifesaving procedures or equipment.” – Margaret Ingram, Chief Executive of The Kentown Wizard Foundation

www.feetfirstworldwide.com

Charity Registration number: 1112464

Steve Mannion, the founder of Feet First Worldwide, is an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon based in Blackpool. He spends 6 months of his year travelling to the developing world, helping to change the lives of children born with clubfoot.

As a worldwide authority on the defect, Steve champions the Ponseti technique which is a manipulation and brace therapy over surgery where possible.

For two weeks every June, Steve and the Feet First team donate their time and expertise, travelling to Malawi to not only perform lifesaving treatment on around 30 children, but to train the local doctors and medics too.

Around 900 babies a year are born in Malawi with Clubfoot and it isn’t known what causes it, though it is thought to be genetic. Currently, Feet First only have the resources to make one project visit to Malawi per year. Therefore many patients who are unable to be operated on are obliged to wait a further 12 months for their next opportunity for surgery.

The Kentown Wizard Foundation is thrilled to be able to increase the Feet First Malawi missions from one to four a year until 2020, with a grant of £200,000.

This will not only allow for more children to be treated but also for more local medics to be trained. The grant will also allow for two medical vehicles to be purchased by the team in order to access remote villages and transport patients to the hospital.

www.feetfirstworldwide.com