Promoting health and welfare of the poor and marginalised
Friends of Vellore UK is the UK-based charity which supports Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore and its associated mission hospitals.
CMC Vellore
CMC Vellore is a teaching hospital in southern India. It was founded in 1900 to provide treatment for women and poor people excluded from good healthcare. Today, it continues to serve those who are underprivileged and marginalised, providing free or subsidised treatment to people from all over India.
CMC Vellore seeks to be a witness to the healing ministry of Christ through excellence in healthcare, education and research. They train and send out medical professionals to serve in the Spirit of Christ, supporting many smaller mission hospitals across India.
CMC is active on all levels from community healthcare to higher specialities, complex transplants and cancer treatment. Paul Brand made several of his key leprosy breakthroughs here. With multiple campuses spread across two states, CMC has 3,844 beds and a dedicated team of 13,153 individuals, in addition to 168 mission hospitals who are closely linked.
CMC is considered one of India’s finest medical college hospitals and attracts patients from all over the country as well as neighbouring nations. Whilst many patients are able to afford their treatment, a significant proportion do not have the means to pay for healthcare and may not even seek treatment. Concessions and free treatment are given according to need using various CMC charity schemes.
CMC was founded by Dr Ida Scudder, the granddaughter of the first American Medical Missionary. To read the inspirational story of how God called her to set up CMC Vellore, see the ‘About’ section on the menu above.
You may also be interested to read about Dr Paul Brand, who was a pioneering British-American physician renowned for his ground-breaking work in the field of leprosy treatment and rehabilitation. He collaborated extensively with Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore to develop innovative surgical techniques and prosthetic devices for leprosy-affected individuals.
Friends of Vellore UK’s vision
Friends of Vellore UK supports projects at Christian Medical College Vellore (CMC), and other mission hospitals working in partnership with CMC. The charity seeks to follow Christ’s example in showing compassion towards those who are vulnerable and marginalised. We want to help CMC to ensure that everyone can receive appropriate healthcare regardless of their ability to pay or their faith.
Our mission
We strive to fulfill our vision through the following activities:
- Raising funds to support healthcare, education and development projects at CMC that benefit the poorest and most excluded patients and communities
- Encouraging CMC in its partnership with smaller mission hospitals across India
- Promoting the work of CMC and sharing news and information for prayer
Our projects
Friends of Vellore fund a wide range of projects, from treatment for patients unable to pay, to salaries of community health workers in particularly deprived areas, to cervical cancer screening and palliative care services. We have sent grants to fund equipment at smaller mission hospitals working in partnership with CMC. These have included funds for lab equipment, oxygen generators, an ambulance and an effluent treatment plant.
We help fund staff from CMC and it’s partner mission hospitals to access training both in India and in the UK. We also help coordinate elective placements and visits for medical students and others interested in experiencing the work of CMC Vellore for themselves. There are partnerships between several UK hospitals and universities with CMC Vellore.
For more information, browse the projects menu on our website.
CMC Vellore’s Mission
The primary concern of the Christian Medical College Vellore is to develop through education and training, compassionate, professionally excellent, ethically sound individuals who will go out as servant-leaders of health teams and healing communities. Their service may be in promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative or palliative aspects of healthcare, in education or in research.
In the delivery of healthcare, CMC provides a culture of caring while pursuing its commitment of professional excellence. CMC is committed to innovation and the adoption of new, appropriate, cost-effective, caring technology. In the area of research, CMC strives to understand God’s purposes and designs, fostering a spirit of enquiry, commitment to truth and high ethical standards. Research may be aimed at gaining knowledge of the fundamental basis of health and disease, at improving interventions or in optimising the use of resources.
CMC reaffirms its commitment to the promotion of health and wholeness in individuals and communities and its special concern for the disabled, disadvantaged, marginalised and vulnerable.
CMC looks for support and participation in its programmes in education, service, outreach and research, from friends and like-minded agencies in India and abroad, in a true spirit of partnership.
In its role as a living witness in the healing ministry of Christ, CMC seeks to work in partnership both with the Church in India and the Universal Church, and their institutions.
Friends of Vellore UK 