Women’s Day visit to city by sister of Oscar-winning film director

THE sister of Oscar-winning film director Anthony Minghella will visit Hull on Thursday to mark International Women’s Day, discuss overseas aid projects, and find out more about Hull’s links with its twin city of Freetown in Sierra Leone.

Loretta Minghella, the director of Christian Aid, will attend a reception at the Guildhall hosted by the Lord Mayor of Hull, Coun Colin Inglis, with 150 other guests.

Christian Aid volunteers, members of Hull’s Freetown Society, those working in the Hull-Freetown schools partnership, and Fair Trade supporters are also expected to attend.

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Ms Minghella, who visited Freetown last month to see a number of projects funded by Christian Aid, will speak about the charity’s role in working with people of all faiths to bring equality, dignity, freedom and better living standards to people living in extreme poverty.

Coun Inglis and Ms Minghella will also share insights into practical ways of helping communities escape poverty.

The link between Hull and Freetown was formed in 1980 and is the longest of its kind involving a British city and a country outside Europe.

Sylvia Usher, of the Hull and District Christian Aid Committee, said: “We hope this contact with Loretta, who is a remarkable person, will inspire us to realise we can do a lot in partnership with others. And we are grateful for the generosity of the city of Hull in giving this reception.”

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Ms Minghella is a former criminal lawyer who led the Financial Services Authority compensation scheme, which secured £21bn of repayments to people who had been mis-sold loans and insurance by banks and other financial companies.

Her brother Anthony, who died in March 2008, both studied and taught at Hull University. He won an Academy Award for best director for The English Patient in 1997.

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