September 10th, 2006
“The tears failed to flow yesterday as Michael Schumacher, the world’s most successful racing driver, announced his retirement and then faced up to how to spend the rest of his life.
“The man the world believes has the hardest heart in sport refused to let slip what his future holds. Only his closest friends and confidants know what awaits him after a motor racing career that has raised millions of pounds for charity.
“The son of a builder from Kerpen, near Cologne, has donated almost £30 million to projects around the world in the past four years alone and, if motor racing fails to hold its allure when he hangs up his helmet at the end of the Formula One season, it is thought that he might plough his considerable wealth into a full-time foundation.
“If the public perception of Schumacher for the past 15 years has been one of snarling arrogance, the private Schumacher, 37, is a warm family man whose tastes are as mundane as a Bacardi and Coke and a cigar, and who wants to know that his vast earnings are not all being stashed in offshore accounts.
“Unlike like many famous sportsmen or showbusiness stars, he has kept celebrity magazines at arm’s length and his donations would have gone almost unnoticed but for research by BusinessF1 magazine, which checked records in Germany. They found that Schumacher had contributed to the building of hospitals, orphan-ages and schools in areas such as Peru and Senegal.
“He was the biggest private donor to the Asian Tsunami Appeal, giving about £6 million, and works tirelessly for Unesco, the United Nations’ body that works with children.
“But so secretive is he about his giving, few, even in his Ferrari team, knew the extent of his charitable work …”
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September 10th, 2006
Elton John says that guilt about a self-indulgent past provoked him to get involved in the fight against AIDS. He believes that philanthropy is more rewarding than all of his musical achievements.
The rocker founded the Elton John Aids Foundation just months after abandoning his hedonist lifestyle in 1990, and he has since gone out of his way to raise millions for medical research into the killer disease. He says, “In the 80s I didn’t really do much for Aids. I was too unreliable at that time in my life, with drugs and drink involved, to actually come to the fore and be accountable. “When I got sober in 1990, then I realised that my life was just so out of whack, so self-absorbed, so self-obsessed and six months after that I did get sober and I thought, ‘Right, I’m gonna do something now.’” The British star admits his charity work is now more rewarding than all his musical achievements and accolades - especially when he gets the chance to meet the people his efforts have helped. He adds, “It’s really, really satisfying. I am doing something decent with my life, I’m not wasting it. I’m not putting it up my nose, I’m not drinking it, I’m not putting it down my throat, I’m actually doing something that is worthwhile and I wish I had come to my senses much earlier.”
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September 10th, 2006
“United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today [8 September] told more than 2,500 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) gathered in New York for their last annual meeting before his term ends in December that the support of civil society groups has been critical to his accomplishments.
“Mr. Annan, who is widely viewed as having broken new ground in terms of NGO involvement in the UN’s work, also stressed the vital role these groups have played in achieving progress on a number of political and social issues.
“‘Much of my daily work involves contacts with Governments. Yet, much of what I have achieved as Secretary-General was made possible by your support and involvement’, he told the closing session of the annual conference, which is organized by the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).
“‘That is why, as I approach my own transition from public civil servant to a private life, I am particularly delighted to be amongst so many civil society representatives from all over of the world who have gathered here to learn, exchange ideas and build ties’, Mr. Annan said.
“The Secretary-General, whose second and final five year term expires at the end of this year, looked back ‘with some pride and satisfaction on a decade in which UN-civil society interactions have both widened and deepened’.
“‘From debt relief and the fight against disease to good governance, human rights, the global NGO revolution has helped move the global agenda and given new life and new meaning to the idea of an international community’, he said. ‘More and more, the initiative in taking action to improve the human conditions comes from voluntary groups such as yours’.”
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