Healthcare
and eventually in the health sector at national level. As a result of his hard work and networking and in a victory no less glorious than that of George over the Dragon, 1903 witnessed the creation of a ‘National Association for the Establishment and Maintenance of Sanatoria for Workers Suffering from Tuberculosis. The creation of the ‘The Post Office Sanatorium Society’ very soon followed and after circularising the entire workforce, 30,000 subscription payments were collected! The pot of gold from the mammoth whip around was then used to construct a brand new hospital in the pretty village of Benenden in Kent in which TB victims were urgently treated.
This
pulmonary spectre was no match for the young visionary, as in the fresh, rural Kent air, the postal workers soon stopped dropping and the sick got well. For one extremely fortunately group of workers, an insidious beast was truly slain.
Over a century later, it is wonderful to witness the fruits of Charles’ creative response to fear and sadness living on in the form of the Benenden Healthcare Society, which has long since expanded its range of services
and membership base.
The hospital
is still proudly in operation and the organisation now boasts 900,000 members who pay the same modest fee regardless of circumstances.
I believe the
Benenden story is testament to the fact the power really is at local level
From what I’ve read, it doesn’t appear that Charles was the recipient of anything beyond a basic education, but he was savvy enough to apply the simple and innate resources of passion, faith, dedication and imagination to an urgent and deadly community problem.
I believe the Benenden story is testament to the fact the power really
is at local level – whether it lies within you yourself, your organisation, or your home town. And if there is truth in the old wives’ tale that the cure is often found close to the disease, then it really does make sense to start at the heart.
Maybe we have been conditioned to look to our distal Daddy figure of government as the only cure for our ills, but if we are to take control of our destinies it is crucial we remind ourselves that times have truly changed.
The centre for learning,
networking and changing the world has now moved to our living rooms, as the internet has truly made our countries and communities as free as we want them to be.
DVDs of ‘Ahead of its Time’ can be ordered from Amazon. You can also view a behind the scenes look at its making with Director Barney Broom and Society Secretary René Fraioli on YouTube at
www.youtube.com/ benendenhealthcare.
By Martina Keens-Betts
Images courtesy of ChipPix at
Shutterstock.com
21 entrepreneurcountry
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