Wales celebrates 100 years of Save the Children

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Soprano Stacey Wheeler and tenor Gwyn Hughes JonesImage source, Nick Treharne
Image caption,

Soprano Stacey Wheeler and tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones were performing at a centenary concert in Bangor

Celebrations have been taking place in Wales to mark the 100-year anniversary of Save the Children.

Bangor Cathedral hosted a centenary concert, featuring performances from world-renowned tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones and soprano Stacey Wheeler.

Eglantyne Jebb and her sister Dorothy Buxton started the charity in May 1919.

The sisters, who grew up in Rhiwlas, Gwynedd, aimed to help youngsters left displaced after World War One.

Other commemorations in the UK include a dinner attended by the charity's patron Princess Anne, and The Ellesmere Sculpture Project which received a £21,000 Heritage Lottery Fund Grant.

The 18-month project's centrepiece will be a sculpture in Cremorne Gardens near The Lyth country house in Ellesmere, Shropshire, where Ms Jebb and Ms Buxton were born and the family still reside.

Image source, Save The Children
Image caption,

Eglantyne Jebb spent her childhood in Wales

Ms Jebb was the driving force behind Save the Children, while Ms Buxton married Liberal MP Charles Buxton and followed a more political path.

Eurgain Haf from Save the Children said: "Eglantyne Jebb was very innovative, ahead of her time to be honest. She believed strongly in the rights of children, that each child has a set of fundamental rights.

"She saw the suffering of children at the end of the First World War - children starving in Germany and Austria - and it strongly affected her."

Ms Jebb was arrested in Trafalgar Square for causing a disturbance as she displayed pictures of emaciated children.

She was taken to court and fined £5 but the prosecution lawyer was so impressed by her campaigning he paid her fine.

That was the first Save the Children Fund donation, with the charity founded shortly after at a packed public meeting at the Royal Albert Hall.

Ms Haf said: "As we celebrate the century there is a sad side, that there is still a need for it. Our main priority in 2019 is to make sure the fundamental rights of children are protected."

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