The word HELWEL is derived from the Zululand Churches Health and Welfare Association, an organisation with its roots in the early 1960s in the historic area of Natal, South Africa, where the Zulu Nation prospered in the 18th and 19th centuries. Helwel was created to serve the under-privileged people of the region by the Christian churches and hospitals.

Drs Anthony and Maggie Barker worked for 35 years at the Charles Johnson Memorial Hospital at Nqutu. When they, and other medical staff and volunteers from this and other hospitals (such as St Mary's Hospital KwaMagwaza), returned to the UK in 1976, they founded Helwel Trust to provide ongoing financial support for the work in the area now known as KwaZulu Natal. Helwel Trust is also concerned to raise awareness of the many social and medical problems that are endemic in the region, not least of which is HIV/AIDS.

The Helwel Council has 16 members who meet twice a year in London and in the meantime work from our own homes. Administration costs are very low indeed. Everyone works voluntarily.

Over the years we have raised many thousands of pounds (currently sending out in the region of £50,000 per year) by means of donations, events and legacies.