What a momentous year it has been! But not quite the momentous year that The World Health Organization (WHO) imagined when it dedicated 2020 to nurses and midwives, celebrating our work across the globe, and highlighting our role in achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. You can read more about these 'SDGs' in Georgie Coster's piece over the page. The year was chosen to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. It seems ironic that due to Covid-19, nurses and midwives have been too busy this year giving essential care to celebrate, or to be properly celebrated. I was delighted to hear that the WHO have decided to extend this International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife into 2021.

In this edition of Spotlight, we also want to celebrate the role of nurses and midwives, past and present. From Mary Seacole, an inspirational nurse in the Crimean War, to Mary Hopper, a current midwife member who reflects on her missionary life in Zimbabwe. There's the testimony of a nurse serving a community, another on the Mercy Ships, and more wo are faithfully working day by day in the NHS under challenging circumstances. Here at CMF, we salute you all. 2021 will be your year!

Pippa

Pippa Peppiatt, CMF Head of Nurses & Midwives
Pippa trained as a nurse. She has planted a church for students with her husband, set up a charity for street kids in Uganda, and has been a Friends International Student Worker.