John Bradburne Memorial Society
The John Bradburne Memorial Society Charity Objective
"To relieve people at Mutemwa Leprosy Settlement, Zimbabwe, who are suffering sickness, hardship and distress from leprosy or other causes, through the provision of supplementary food, medicines, medical care, clothing, shelter, with the object of improving their conditions of life."
Mutemwa Leprosy Settlement is situated in the North East of Zimbabwe, and some ninety miles east of Harare. The settlement was founded in 1937. It grew into a huge leprosarium in the forties and fifties with nearly 1000 patients. Then with the advent of the drug Dapsone which halts the disease, many patients were sent back to their homes to be looked after. Those who remained were not looked after properly until John Bradburne,who had worked on the Missions doing various jobs, settled there and dedicated the last ten years of his life to caring for the remaining people there.
John, who described himself as a Strange Vagabond of God, was a layman and a member of the Third Order of St Francis. By 1969 the patients had dwindled to eighty and were mostly very deformed with loss of limbs, noses, and blindness. They needed considerable care which John Bradburne gave them with unstinting devotion, until his murder in 1979 at the end of the war for Independence.
The UK charity The John Bradburne Memorial Society was set up in 1995 to help continue to support the Settlement in memory of John Bradburne's work there. Mutemwa is now also home to disabled and destitute handicapped, who would otherwise have no one to care for them. In the current crisis in Zimbabwe there is more need than ever to raise funds for the work to continue, to supply basic needs and medical care for the patients.
The Society is an international organisation which is also responsible for disseminating information worldwide about John Bradburne, whose life and work is the charity's inspiration.
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1. Legal and Administrative Information
Full name of charity: The John Bradburne Memorial Society (JBMS)
Charity Registration No.1046483
Registered address: PO Box 32, Leominster, Herefordshire HR6 0YB.
Tel: 01568 760632
Fax: 01568 760523
Email: johnbradburne@hotmail.com
Website: www.johnbradburne.com
Names of Trustees: Tim Brigstocke (Chairman), John Reid (Treasurer),
Lawrence Vambe, Christine Pratt,Valerie Brierley
Secretary: Celia Brigstocke.
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2. Charity Aims and Organisation
Objects of Charity:’To relieve people in the area of Mutemwa, Zimbabwe, who are suffering sickness, hardship and distress from leprosy or other causes, through the provision of supplementary food, medicines, medical care, clothing and shelter, with the object of improving their conditions of life.’
The charity operates primarily within the United Kingdom, working with the main executing agency called the Zimbabwe Leprosy Association (ZLA), which is responsible for the management of the Mutemwa Leprosy Settlement -
3. Mutemwa Leprosy Settlement
The Mutemwa Leprosy Settlement is situated to the N.E. of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, and cares for 40 leprosy and 20 destitute/handicapped patients. New patients are referred by the Department of Social Welfare as vacancies or new openings become available. Reports of up to 20% relapse rates amongst discharged leprosy patients gives main cause for concern.
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4. Key Activities
The Society was set up in 1995. It produces two newsletters annually, Summer and Winter, to a membership of over 2,500 individual addresses within the UK and worldwide. The newsletter and website are the main ways of spreading the word about John Bradburne and the work of the Society, and hence the raising of funds for Mutemwa. It is supported by sales of books,CD's,DVD's and other items.
The JBMS organises special events. For example Charles Moore, previous Editor of the Daily Telegraph, and a keen supporter of the Society, spoke at a launch in London, for John Bradburne’s first book of poetry edited by Professor David Crystal in 1996, whilst two major events were organized in 1997 for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of John Bradburne’s reception into the Catholic Church in October 1947. The first, on the actual date and site at Buckfast Abbey, was a special High Mass led by the Bishop of Plymouth, assisted by the Abbot of Buckfast and attended by several hundred people.
The second celebration was a High Mass at Westminster Cathedral led by Cardinal Hume; with 15 priests concelebrating, and attended by about six hundred members. A meeting in the Cathedral Hall followed the Mass with addresses by Fr John Dove SJ, and Professor David Crystal who is collating Bradburne’s vast corpus of poetry. This ended with testimonies from members and friends. Such events are advertised in the newsletters -
5. Financial Requirements
JBMS requires a minimum of £40,000 per annum. Extra funds for special projects at Mutemwa are also needed. Repairs and redecoration of buildings is an ongoing process. The current problems in Zimbabwe are a source of great concern; basic provisions (e.g. fuel, food and medical supplies) are very scarce, whilst the rising inflation rate of the Zimbabwean economy makes the situation difficult
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Strange Vagabond of God. Memoir of John Bradburne by Fr John Dove SJ £15.00 |
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Cards (no message) from the painting by Fr Claudio Rossi SJ. 10 for £4.50 |