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Merlin

Merlin

Hugh has been a patron of Merlin, the medical aid and healthcare charity, since 2004.

Click here to visit Merlin's website

All Liberian photos taken by Ben Gurr of The Times. Click on a photo to enlarge.

Dec18

Merlin Christmas Appeal

An article Hugh wrote for The IoS Christmas Appeal

Reading stories like today's article by Emily Dugan and Shaista Aziz is a great way to find out about Merlin. I have also been lucky to see Merlin in action. Privileged, in fact. This plucky British-founded medical charity responds to problems...

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An Evening with Downton Abbey
Jul22

An Evening with Downton Abbey

Raising money for Merlin

On Thursday 14 July, Hugh Bonneville, Merlin’s patron and the star of the hit ITV drama series Downton Abbey, hosted a spectacular gala dinner and auction at London's Savoy Hotel to raise money for Merlin and awareness about our...

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Apr15

Liberia and Ivory Coast Crisis

The situation worsens...

It is estimated that over 1,000 people are dead and more than 125,000 refugees have fled to Liberia due to the political unrest and violence in the country. Despite the capture of the former President Laurent Gbagbo on April 11th, it is...

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Dec04

Merlin in Liberia

An article Hugh wrote for The Times about his trip to Liberia

I am 21,” murmurs the impossibly fresh-faced young mother. It’s also impossible that she’s as old as she claims. Her one-year-old daughter, Jartu, is asleep in her arms. But the beads of sweat on the baby’s brow suggest this might be more than...

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Nov25

Downton in Liberia

In 2010, while visiting Merlin programmes in Liberia, Hugh came across a street market...

  • At the Banjor clinic in Montserrado County.
    Weekly check-up for a baby girl at the Robert H Fergusson clinic in Gardnersville Township near Monrovia.
    Henrietta Popples, midwife at the St John clinic. After nine years sleeping on the floor of her office in order to be on hand for her patients, she built her own hut.
    A surreal moment: Merlin's international staff suggested that Hugh's present to them of a Downton Abbey DVD should in fact be given to the Minister for Health, Dr Walter T. Gwenigale.
    With the family planning officer at Banjor clinic. The winner of a Twitter caption competition for this one was Emma Irvine (@emmacarshalton): 'Now, I know I said I'd do anything for Merlin...'

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Click here to find out more about MerlinGiving Back: Any purchases made on Amazon via links from this site benefit Merlin, the international medical relief charity of which Hugh is a patron.  

Here's how it works: click on an Amazon-related item (eg a DVD of Downton Abbey) and any completed purchase made on amazon.co.uk or amazon.com during that visit generates a commission for this website, which is then passed on to the charity. You don't even have to buy the item which first took you to the Amazon site. In the 6 months to December 2011, a total of £101.25 was donated to Merlin this way. So, any time you buy anything from Amazon, please consider doing so via this site - you'll be helping a great cause. Thank you.  To find out more about Merlin and Hugh's other charity interests click here.