The Northern Cleft Foundation has gone from strength to strength over the last few years.
What began as a small organisation in 2001 with six people performing operations on thirty children has grown into a charity that sends a team of 40 doctors, nurses and support workers to India annually to change lives by providing free cleft lip and palate surgery to those who are too poor to access such treatment.
Seven dedicated cleft surgeons and skilled paediatric anaesthetists work with the team providing care to the same standard as that received in the NHS. They, along with specialist nurses and support workers, give of their time and expertise to transform the lives of the children they treat – operating on over 100 children and some adults during each outreach. They also provide training to local staff in the hospitals where the NCF operates.
2104 – 2 Outreaches & our first Masterclass
In 2014 the Northern Cleft Foundation held two outreaches, one in Nagpur and one in Aurangabad. It held its first ever Masterclass in Cleft Surgery during the September outreach in Aurangabad thus enabling skills to be cascaded to doctors attending from across India.
1000 lives changed for the better!
During our September outreach the charity also reached the momentous landmark of having performed 1000 corrective cleft operations.
2015 – off to a great start
In January of this year the team were back in Nagpur and over 100 operations were performed in under six days. The majority of our patients are aged between 6 months and 3 years of age , the youngest being 3 months and the oldest being 62 years.
Our plans for the future
Looking to the future, the hope is that in 2016 we could perform up to 200 operations over a ten day period, working in up to six theatres. There is a need to update our equipment, particularly for monitoring and resuscitation, to ensure we maintain the safety of the children in our care.
How you can help
In order to continue undertaking such transformative work to the highest standards we need to raise more funds to pay for the equipment we need which will cost £20,000. Every donation will take us nearer our target and help us to keep giving “smiles for life .”
Please help if you can
TEXT NNCF37 £2/£5/£10 to 70070