Vodafone Qatar said the winner of the £100,000 “Grahame Maher World of Difference Award” is Frederique Kallen (Netherlands) whose charity ‘Mama Alice’ will use the prize money to set-up a free support line for abused children in Peru. The runners-up, who will each receive £10,000, are Sue Van Schreven (New Zealand) whose charity is Orphan Aid International and Nick Eastcott (UK) whose charity is AfriKids. “Congratulations to the finalists who were of exceptional quality, all being truly inspirational, passionate about their chosen charity and determined to make a sustainable difference. They all proposed projects that made full use of their experience and knowledge which are of benefit, not only to the charity but also to the broader community for the future,” said Andrew Dunnett, Vodafone Foundation director. Sue Van Schreven will use her prize money to benefit the 2.7mn orphaned children in Uganda and Nick Eastcott’s prize money will benefit child rights charity AfriKids operating in northern Ghana. The “Grahame Maher World of Difference Award” was launched in July by the Vodafone Foundation in honour of Vodafone Qatar’s late CEO Grahame Maher. His passion helped spearhead the ‘World of Difference’ programme 10 years ago while working in New Zealand and has now been extended to some 21 other countries around the world including Qatar. The award was open to all previous ‘World of Difference’ winners all over the world to which 265 applications were received from some 16 different countries. “Grahame would be so proud of this award and also humbled to see how a small idea can grow into a programme that can touch so many lives all over the world. I would personally like to thank Vodafone for enabling me to be a part of this, and for continuing to live his passion through this programme that he started 10 years ago,” said Jenny Maher, the widow of Grahame Maher. “Grahame had a unique ability to be able to connect with everyone he met, I hope through this award that I will be able to live his mantra of ‘Dream it, Believe it, Do it!’ and with Vodafone continue to ‘Make a World of Difference’,” Jenny Maher added. The entrants were initially judged by their local Vodafone Foundation. Once the finalists were selected, members of the public were able to vote for their preferred winner via Facebook. As a result of the vote, global finalists were selected and judged by an expert panel in the UK who selected the last three finalists. The winner was selected by a judging panel in Doha.

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