THE FOUNDER of a charity supporting children in Palestine has stepped down as chair after more than 40 years.
Val Jourdan MBE, from Goodworth Clatford, set up Action around Bethlehem Children with Disability (ABCD) in 1984 after spending a year in Bethlehem volunteering as a pediatric physiotherapist.
She said: "The charity I volunteered for couldn't find anyone to go on, and a very dear friend of mine said 'let's do something about it'."
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The grandmother of five and her best friend Georgina Mortimer began working to support training programmes for Palestinian people, teaming up with the organization Save The Children to fund physiotherapy degrees for locals.
The charity has also set up five rehabilitation homes across refugee camps in Palestine to support disabled children and their families, by renovating and quipping centres with sensory rooms, therapists, and specialised equipment including wheelchairs.
Val says the conflict in Gaza has heightened the importance of the charity's work, as travel in the region is 'extremely restricted', leading them to develop smaller rehabilitation areas across the country.
She added that the conflict has severely impacted the areas where ABCD's centres are located, causing 'huge deprivation and huge poverty' with one of the five centres unable to function as it has been left without water, power or food.
Val Jourdan was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours List 2015 for services to improving the lives of disabled children in the West Bank.
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Reverend Daniel Burton will take over as chair of the charity, with Val stepping back as a trustee. She said: "Because I'm 82, I feel the pressure of where the buck stops, but in stepping back I will still be a huge part of the charity.
"There are so many people I would really like to say thank you for helping us to build it [ABCD] into what it is today, we couldn't do it without our supporters and they have been wonderful.
"40 years is a long time to go from the beginning of something to where we are today, and I hope we are able to continue."
To learn more about the charity's work in Palestine, or to donate, visit abcdbethlehem.org/
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