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Lucy Dickenson (3 June 1980 – 20 August 2012) was a Welsh humanitarian, social entrepreneur and singer-songwriter. She began her humanitarian career in Uganda in 1999 and founded The SAFE Foundation international development charity with her twin sister and voluntee trustees in 2006 and it started work the following year.


Early life

Dickenson was born on 3 June 1980 in
Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...
,
South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
. She was a twin, and the daughter of Glenys and Mark Dickenson. Dickenson had two elder sisters. She was first educated at All Saints CIW Primary School and then at
Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High School The Bishop of Llandaff High School () is a Church in Wales, Christian faith comprehensive school in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, Wales. The school admits students aged 11 to 18, from Cardiff and surrounding areas such as Vale of Glamorgan, Pont ...
in Cardiff. Dickenson first became interested in charity work when she saw
Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
at the age of nine.


Career

In January 1999, after completing her schooling, Dickenson travelled to the African country of
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
as part of a missionary with the
North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...
-based Right Hand Trust Christian charity to assist
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
affected orphans. She was on a gap year, and worked at a secondary school and an orphanage in Kantare. Dickenson found her self caught up by violent unrest in which eight western tourists and four tour guides were murdered by Rwandan rebels on a trekking expedition at the
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a large primeval forest located in south-western Uganda and is located in three districts of Kisoro, Kabale and Kanungu District, Kanungu. The Bwindi forest is on the edge of the Albertine Rift, the western branc ...
in March 1999. She decided not to join the group as she had to start work at the orphanage early but was later forced out of her hotel by Rwandan Hutu rebels to witness the murder of a man. When Dickenson returned to Britain in July 1999, the experience led her to seek therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder two years later and declined to enroll at the
University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...
to study International Development after being offered a place there. She and her twin sister established the Juniper Orphan Fund to provide assistance to Ugandan orphans. Dickenson founded The SAFE Foundation international development charity in 2006 and became operational the following year with her twin sister and a group of volunteer trustees in support of small, rural projects that had difficulty finding mainstream aid. At first, Dickenson operated the charity at the home of her mother in Barry, raising money in Britain to provide funding to projects across the globe and working with indigenously run partner charities. The charity later moved to Cardiff, sending the young
NEET A NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", is a person who is Unemployment, unemployed and not receiving an education or Vocational education, vocational training. The classification originated in the United Kingdom in ...
s to raise their self-esteem by sending them to head workshops in Africa and Asia. She was the charity's sole full-time worker and worked long hours installing projects and getting funding from grants and fundraising. At the time of her death, the charity was running 16 projects in ten countries. Dickenson spent six years studying part-time for a World Religion and International Development with humanities degree at the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
. She held down a part-time job at Waterlily, a High Street gift shop. From the age of 14, Dickenson and her twin sister composed songs and performed as a duo known as Amber Hour, fusing
dub music Dub is a musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican reggae, p.&nb ...
with folk and rock. She was also a trustee of Vale for Africa for four years.


Death

In August 2012, she travelled to the South-central African country of
Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
to perform charity work with the Monze District Land Alliance group, helping people grow food and advocacy work for woman who were subject to abuses of their land rights. Dickenson was involved in a road accident in the Southern Province and died of multiple injuries at Mtendere Mission Hospital, Chirundu on 20 August 2012. Her funeral was held in Barry on 6 September 2012. An inquest into Dickenson's death held in Cardiff in August 2017 determined that her death was "accidental".


Recognition

She received the UN Goldstar Communities Award and was honored by the Welsh charity UnLtd as a "inspirational social entrepreneur". Dickenson was one of 17 women honored with a plaque on the Penarth Women Trail walking trail that was opened in Barry in 2014. A rare Welsh species fruit orchard was planted in tribute to her on a park at White Farm in Barry in 2014. A charity centre called the Lucy Memorial Centre was named for her and was opened in the Indian village of Mugaiyur in 2018.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickenson, Lucy 1980 births 2012 deaths People from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan People educated at Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High School Alumni of the Open University 20th-century Welsh women 21st-century Welsh women 20th-century Welsh women singers 21st-century Welsh women singers Welsh women singer-songwriters British social entrepreneurs Welsh philanthropists 21st-century women philanthropists British aid workers Road incident deaths in Zambia