Our community
and partnerships

To every member of a church congregation who gave to our work in 2022, we are so grateful.

Our Community Partnerships Managers and Volunteer Speaker team have loved being able to speak in person once again. Thank you for hosting them. They delivered a splendid 494 talks during 2022. Special thanks to the incredible Volunteer Speaker team for making this outreach possible.

Many thousands of lives across the globe have been changed as a result of a Leprosy Mission speaker.

Right: Community Partnerships Manager Daisy Mansfield speaking at a church.

St Swithun's in Sandy, Bedfordshire is now one of our top supporting churches.

Its vicar describes how it was a talk from a visiting speaker that birthed a fundraising venture. This venture now brings in tens of thousands of pounds every year and transforms the lives of people across Asia and Africa.

The Revd. Huw Davies said: "Forty years ago a speaker from the Leprosy Mission addressed the small church of St Swithun's. They could not have imagined the impact their short talk would have. It inspired one young man to begin a collection to raise a little money for this ministry.

"His enthusiasm grew and he inspired others to join him. Over the years his team has worked with the church and the community holding quizzes and teas. There have also been fundraising meals, concerts and coach trips to local sights.

"The young man, now in his 70s, runs a weekly bric-a-brac stall in the market square. Every day the sun shines he also has a stall outside his house. All of this contributes to his astounding ministry to people affected by leprosy.

"It was one small talk so very long ago that planted a seed in the fertile ground of a young man's heart. Years later it is bearing such good fruit. It is a challenge to us all, what small seed might we sow today?"

The young man Revd Davies describes is Colin Osborne MBE. Colin is now Chair of Trustees at The Leprosy Mission International. His contribution and dedication to helping people affected by leprosy is phenomenal. Thank you, Colin, for your phenomenal dedication to serving people affected by leprosy.

Our inspiring volunteers are helping to transform the lives of people affected by leprosy across the world. If you would like to become a Leprosy Mission volunteer, click the button below to find out more.

Left: Chief Executive Peter Waddup speaking to supporters at a legacy event with Pam Rhodes, one of our Vice President.

We were so excited to launch a new series of school resources in 2022. These resources are based on the book 'Bela' by Mia Hadrill.  Bela is the story about a brave and fun young girl from India who is diagnosed with leprosy. The resources are aimed at children in Early Years and Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

The brand new resources are brimming with ideas for activities across the curriculum. There is also a digital version of the book to read in class or at home. Find out more or download the resources today.

Left: Our new schools resources are based on the 'Bela' book, about a girl diagnosed with leprosy in India.

We are indebted to BBC Songs of Praise presenter Pam Rhodes who led the Flourish campaign at the start of 2023.

The campaign was borne out of a devastating discovery by our medical teams in Bangladesh. The outreach teams were stunned by the high number of new leprosy cases found in the tea gardens of Sylhet. A couple of hours away from the bustling and disease-ridden slums of the capital, Dhaka, the air is fresh. Rows of lush green leaves stretch as far as the eye can see. The tea gardens are a vibrant picture of vitality.

But appearances can be deceptive. More than 1,600 new cases of leprosy have been diagnosed and treated since the outreach began in 2017. Almost no family remains unscathed.

We know that every person deserves life in all its fullness. With your support, we are now working to upscale our work and go into every tea garden in Sylhet. We are setting up pop-up clinics to cure leprosy and protect the livelihoods of the tea pickers. They need to stay healthy to work and feed their families.

Together it is our passion to reach them and cure leprosy before disability sets in. We will work until we see flourishing health, flourishing communities and flourishing lives.

Above: Dalamar is a tea picker in Sylhet who has been treated for leprosy.
Right: BBC Songs of Praise presenter Pam Rhodes with Sudarini in Bangladesh. Sudarini has been cured of leprosy.

Our Vice-President Pam Rhodes visited our projects in Bangladesh shortly before the pandemic. Pam was left forever changed by the experience. The compassion demonstrated by the team in Bangladesh further fired her own passion. She became even more determined to change the lives of people affected by leprosy. We were delighted that Pam agreed to lead the Flourish campaign.

Pam continued to work tirelessly for people affected by leprosy in 2022. We would like to particularly thank her for hosting legacy events in Bristol and Norwich.

Thank you Pam for all of this and for being such an enormous encouragement to our staff team.

Left: Pam Rhodes speaking to supporters about her visit to Bangladesh.