RSS Feed

Art exhibition shows how legacies are making a difference in Haiti

Archive content
This is a text-only version of an article first published on Thursday, 20 August 2015. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.

Posted on 21. 8. 15 FOR Alison Knight the subject of legacies is a deeply personal one.

Alison became an orphan aged just 10, and was fortunate enough to have a large extended family of people who looked after her. And that is the story she uses as she encourages Christian Aid supporters to make wills and ensure they are clear about their wishes.

As a Regional Legacy Officer, her role is to encourage people to leave funds in their wills for the charity. Alison grew up in London, leaving aged 18 to spend a year in the US as an exchange student.

When she returned she lived with an aunt in Swindon, taking a temping job before going to university.

But her plans to go on to further study changed as she was offered the chance to become a Legal Executive for a property firm.

She worked as a conveyancing specialist for 13 years, throughout the property boom of the 1980s. Her Christian faith developed after her parents' deaths, when she was living with her aunt and uncle.

A friend from secondary school came from a family of regular churchgoers and invited her along.

"I was confirmed and I sang in the church choir and it's gone from there really.

Like everyone I went away from church in my 20s.

Then when my son was at school and the vicar used to visit, he wanted to go to her church, so I went back. "When the property market crashed in the early 90s Alison was made redundant, and wanting another child, she had her daughter and became a registered childminder for four years.

Once her youngest was ready to go to school, she took her first role in a Christian organisation, after seeing an advert for a part-time legacy officer for The Children's Society.

From there she moved to Bible Society, then the SAT-7 Trust, a charity supporting Arabic Christian satellite television, which broadcasts 24-hours per day to cater for all of Middle Eastern time zones.

"I took a couple of trips to Cairo and Cyprus where they had studios," says Alison, who moved to Christian Aid seven-and-a-half years ago.

"The nature of fundraising has changed over the last seven years.

It's much harder but Christian Aid have such a faithful group of supporters.

As well as giving talks about the work of Christian Aid, I meet with our existing supporters to encourage them to support us by leaving a final gift to Christian Aid in their wills.

It's a privilege to meet them and share what I've seen of the work going on around the world - particularly on a trip to Honduras.

They are so dedicated to what we are doing. "Alison is also a novelist who has so far had two books published, with a third due out in 2016, visited the Diocese as she is working to promote two legacy related events linked to Christian Aid's "I Witness" exhibition, which highlights the work that has been done in Haiti since the devastating earthquake in January 2010.

The exhibition was put together following a trip to Haiti by three UK Christian Aid supporters who witnessed how legacies left to the charity are making a difference.

They saw how a Christian Aid partner is using art therapy to help young people recover from the devastating aftermath of the earthquake, and the extra chaos that followed Hurricane Sandy in 2010.

Young people in Haiti are pictured among the I Witness artwork.

Christian Aid/ Elaine Duigenan The first "I Witness" exhibition takes place at Reading Minster from 29 August to 13 September.

It will be open from 10. 30am to 3pm on weekdays, 8pm to 11pm on Friday evenings, 1pm to 3pm on Saturdays and 10. 15am to 1pm on Sundays.

Alison will be giving a talk at the Minster at 11. 30am on Wednesday 2 September.

She will also be speaking at the Minster's Sunday service at 11am on Sunday 13 September.

Another exhibition takes place at Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes from 2 to 22 October.

There will be a service of celebration at Christ the Cornerstone on Sunday 11 October.

Page last updated: Thursday 20th August 2015 12:00 AM
Powered by Church Edit