Rotary donation could help reduce child mortality (From This Is Local London)

Rotary donation could help reduce child mortality

5:00pm Wednesday 11th March 2009 in

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Some of the poorest children in the borough will be given a helping hand thanks to a Rotary Club in the United States.

Southgate Rotary Club in Michigan has provided a goodwill donation of US$500 (£325) to Southgate Rotary Club in Enfield, which has matched the donation and passed it onto two projects to support young parents.

The US club regularly collects and distributes nappies and baby formula to US families with infants who have no health insurance. In Enfield, which has the fourth highest rate of child mortality in London, healthworkers say some families are equally as desperate.

At a special meeting of the Rotary Club in the Jolly Farmer pub, in Linkside, on Monday, Tricha Lewis was one of two healthworkers to accept a cheque for £325.

She represents the Enfield Young Parents Project, which runs a huge range of advice and support services for 12 to 20-year-old parents who have issues ranging from homelessness to domestic violence or simply need basic support. They will spend the money on thermometers and advice about how to put babies to bed.

She said: "We see young people in areas with a high level of deprivation whose needs are so complex it is often quite difficult for them to focus on their babies."

Chris Rash, secretary of Enfield's Southgate Rotary Club, said: "We didn't think there was really this sort of need here in the UK — we have got the NHS and social services — but we found out there is a need. Children are falling through the net. There is a high mortality rate and a low birth rate and I don't think there is enough awareness about it. Parents now are not taught how to look after their babies in hospital as they used to be. It is very clear that these young people need guidance."

At the meeting, Jamie Treadwell, an honorary member of Southgate Rotary Club, who lives in Acton, South London, said: "Single-parent families and children growing up in poverty mirrors the Detroit area in Michigan which has some real problems and has been hit really hard by the collapse of the car industry."

A spokeswoman for the Children and Young People's health visiting service, which provides antenatal and postnatal care, said the £325 would go towards buying home safety equipment such as plug socket covers and stair gates.

Enfield Observatory figures for 2008 showed child mortality in Enfield was the fourth highest in London, with 6.5 per 1000 live births compared with a London average of five per 1000 live births.