Clinic to expand vital healthcare services after Aberdeen Asset Management donation

Doctors of the World UK believes that access to healthcare is a basic human right, and strives to provide it for those who are unable to receive help from mainstream services.

Clinics in Bethnal Green, Hackney and Brighton – staffed by volunteers – offer medical care, information and practical support to those who need it the most: the UK’s most vulnerable, destitute, homeless and otherwise exluded people.

Aberdeen’s £10,000 donation will help the organisation extend the opening hours of its fortnightly family clinic in Bethnal Green, aimed specifically at aiding women and children in need.

Operating on the first and third Tuesday of every month, these clinics provide easy access to specialists who can provide vital healthcare services.

Lucy Jones, UK programme manager of Doctors of the World, said: “We are extremely grateful for the donation from Aberdeen Asset Management, which will enable our volunteer doctors to run a specialist fortnightly health service for vulnerable pregnant women and their children.

“By law antenatal care should always be provided in the UK, but we regularly see victims of trafficking, refugees and people living in exploitative situations who’ve been denied access to primary care, or are too afraid to try for fear of being billed, putting both mother and baby at risk.

“Thanks to the continued support of Aberdeen Asset Management, we can make sure that these vulnerable women and children can see a doctor and receive the support they need, without fear of reprisal.”

Aberdeen employees will also get involved in the cause by becoming Right to Care Advocates, helping to spread the message that healthcare should be accessible by all. Completing a workshop that highlights the organisation’s aims and access to healthcare in the UK will allow employees to gain a greater understanding of the plight of many of the UK’s most vulnerable people.

Lynda Affleck of Aberdeen’s Charitable Foundation, said: “Doctors of the World UK’s clinics have become vital to the communities in which they are found, and provide incredibly worthwhile healthcare services for those most in need. We are pleased to be able to assist in expanding the organisation’s operations, so that more vulnerable people can receive the care and attention they require.”

Since opening in the UK in 1998, Doctors of the World UK, part of the international Médecins du Monde network, has helped over 8,600 vulnerable people in the UK, while also raising more than £15 million to aid overseas programmes.

This year the Bethnal Green clinic celebrated its 10th anniversary, and the organisation also expanded its reach with new pilot clinics in Hackney and Brighton.

Aberdeen Asset Management’s Charitable Foundation was established in 2012 to formalise and develop the Group’s charitable giving globally.

The Foundation seeks partnerships with smaller charities around the world, where funds can be seen to have a meaningful and measurable impact and the firm encourages its employees to use their time and skills to support its charitable projects.

The main focus of the Foundation is around emerging markets and local communities, reflecting the desire to give back to those areas which are a key strategic focus of the business and to build on the historic pattern of giving to communities in which Aberdeen employees live and work.