charities

Bill Morris has been involved in many charities over the years, all reflecting his broad interests and his life experiences. These are just some of those with which he has been involved.

Bill Morris's wife, Minetta, died of breast cancer in 1990, and he supports charities such as Breast Cancer Care and Macmillan, two of the UK's leading providers of information, practical assistance and emotional support for anyone affected by breast cancer.

"As someone with first-hand experience of the situation, I know the emotions that have to be faced. It affects your every-day life and your relationships; you cannot take in all the information that is being thrust at you. Personally, I now understand the importance of continuous communication with your partner."

Bill Morris helped to launch this national charity in 2010. It aims to give all children the opportunity to play, learn and develop through cricket, helping to develop the personal, social and physical skills of the 500,000 children they work with every year.

Family Action

Family Action provides practical, emotional and financial support to those who are experiencing poverty, disadvantage and social isolation across the country. Today they work with over 45,000 families through over 140 community-based services.

"Something is wrong when there are more than four million children living in poverty in the UK. Since they were set up in 1869, Family Action has reached corners of need in this country which others ignore - they are never afraid of being brave and imaginative."

Jamaica Basic Schools Foundation (UK).

The charity supports Basic Schools in Jamaica for children aged 3-6 by helping to provide facilities for the education, development and recreation of their students and the training and development of teachers.  Basic Schools Education is central to the early childhood education programme in Jamaica, and there are over 1,500 basic schools that rely in large part upon voluntary effort and charitable contributions.

Refugee Council.

The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations

"Each general election turns into a bidding war between the political parties over who can be nastiest to asylum seekers. We need to keep working with the politicians to make them see how dangerous such policies are."

The Terence Higgins Trust was one of the first charities to be set up in response to the HIV epidemic and has been at the forefront of the fight against HIV and AIDS. Terence Higgins was one of the first people in the UK to die with AIDS. The Trust was named after him, hoping to personalise and humanise AIDS in a very public way.

"The Trust believes that individuals and communities have the potential to change their own lives, and people living with HIV have always had a central role in the development of THT. This is an important principle which all organisations might follow. As a former Patron, I am proud to have been associated with their work, and I share their view that people are entitled to live as healthy a life as possible, free from prejudice, discrimination, isolation, hardship and distress."

Latest figures show that 4,751 people slept rough across England on any given night in 2017 - a 15% increase compared to the previous year, and more than double the amount in 2010. Crisis offers year-round education, employment, housing and well-being services from centres in London, Newcastle, Oxford, Edinburgh and Merseyside.

“I am writing this in August 2020 during the coronavirus epidemic when we have seen individuals, charities, government, and industry work together to find temporary housing for thousands in the span of a few weeks.

“But as lockdown eases, many people face returning to the streets or to uncertain, unstable and sometimes dangerous living situations. And others are being pushed to the brink of homelessness for the first time.

“If we can find solutions to homelessness in the middle of an epidemic, why can’t we end homelessness in this, one of the richest countries in the world? Unless we do something now and enact long-term as well as short-term solutions, this progress will slip and risks being undone.”

In 2019, there were over 850,000 people with dementia in the UK which represents 1 in every 14 of the population aged 65 years and over. At the current rate, by 2040, there will be over 1.5 million people with dementia in the UK.

The Alzheimer's Society is committed to spending at least £150 million over the next decade on dementia research to improve care for people today and find a cure for tomorrow.

“I doubt there are many of us who do not know someone with dementia. It is incurable and it has a devastating effect on the individual, their family and friends.

“As the outbreak of COVID-19 took its course of illness and death, significant evidence showed that people affected by dementia, living in both care homes and the community, were excessively impacted.

“Two thirds of the cost of dementia is paid by people with dementia and their families, and unpaid carers supporting someone with dementia save the UK economy £13.9 billion a year. There are areas of the country where there is little if any support for family carers as they watch their loved ones become more confused and begin not to recognise even the closest family members.

“Dementia is one of the main causes of disability later in life, ahead of cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke. As a country we spend much less on dementia than on these other conditions. And for every person living with dementia, the annual cost to the UK economy is over £30,000 - and yet only £90 is spent on dementia research each year.

“Does any of this make sense in the sixth-largest economy in the world?”

The Stables

Bill Morris was a regular visitor to The Stables at Wavendon which was converted in 1969 into a small theatre for lovers of jazz by the owners of the property - jazz musicians, Johnnie Dankworth (now deceased) and Dame Cleo Laine. 30 years later Bill joined in the fundraising campaign for redevelopment into a concert Hall - but he didn’t quite come up to Johnnie’s musical standards! Dame Cleo is on the left holding the appeal board alongside music students.