Philanthropist to base charity hub in Dundee

Set-up aims to create operating theatres for children in poorer areas

A charity seeking to create safe operating theatres for children throughout the developing world will set up its headquarters in Dundee.

Kids Operating Room (Kidsor) has so far assisted in 5,000 successful children’s surgeries since it was set-up in January this year.

Part of DC Thomson’s Kingsway East building will now be used as a warehouse to distribute high-quality donated surgical equipment to hospitals worldwide.

In many countries, the charity has helped create their first-ever operating rooms for children’s surgery.

The charity was founded by Garreth Wood – the son of north-east businessman and philanthropist Sir Ian Wood – along with his wife Nicola.

The pair are working in partnership with David Cunningham, the former chief executive of Scottish children’s hospital charity The ARCHIE Foundation.

Mr Wood, who recently sold off his Scottish bar and restaurant empire, including Dundee’s Boozy Cow, is to dedicate the next two decades of his life to the effort.

The 40-year-old philanthropist said: “More children aged between five and 14 die every year from surgically treatable conditions than from malaria, HIV and TB combined.

“Our work has been proven to be highly effective and it is saving not just lives, but life-times for children across Africa.

“As we now grow our work to also support hospitals in Asia and Latin America we are delighted to be able to locate the hub of those global operations in Dundee.

“Dundee’s global outlook and highly skilled workforce make it a natural choice for the worldwide hub of our work.”

The Kingsway East building was home to The Courier before staff moved to Meadowside in spring 2017.

The charity will take up residence in a disused part of the building.

A blend of new and high-quality donated equipment will be sorted, packed and shipped from the warehouse to hospitals across the world.

Five jobs and dozens of volunteer opportunities will be created, many of which will include opportunities for overseas travel.

Kidsor has already built four fully operational paediatric surgeries in Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Some 15 more surgeries are planned before the end of the year including in Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Central America.

Kidsor has revealed plans to build 15 more operating rooms by the end of 2019 to help reduce waiting times for children.

Garreth Wood, above, said Dundee is a natural choice for the worldwide hub of Kids Operating Room. The operation will be based at DC Thomson’s East Kingsway building, above right.