Prominent personalities from all over the world, invited by H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden, founder and President of the Mentor Foundation, declared their vigorous decision to impede the spread of drugs and their will to protect the children and the young people from the threat of drugs, with their presence in the charity gala of the Mentor Foundation.

    The gala, with motto “Protecting our children”, was held at the Museum of Natural History in London and included an official dinner and auction of rare items. Its aim was the aid of Mentor Foundation.

    The President of the Foundation, H.M. Queen Silvia opened the event with her speech; a greeting of the founding member of the Foundation, H.M. Queen Noor of Jordan, as well as of the President of Mentor UK, Lord Mancroft followed.

    Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis was present and she was one from the supporters of the evening. Other participants were: Princess Dore Loewenstein, Baroness Nickelson, Lord and Lady de Mauley, Sir Magdi Yacoub, the Ambassadors of Sweden, Colombia and Malta in England, Mr. George Goulandris and Mrs. Christianna Goulandris, Mr. and Mrs. Panagiotis Laimos, the Director of HSBC Mr. Peter Ahlas, Mrs. Basma Al Sulaiman, the fashion designer Nino Cerruti, the English boxing legend Chris Eubank, the American musician Silence and many others.

    The Mentor Foundation

    The Mentor Foundation, which was founded by H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden, has created a large shield of protection for the children from the scourge of drugs. The President of the “Foundation for the Child and the Family”, Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Mentor Foundation and a strong supporter of its activities.

    Τhe Mentor Foundation is an international non-governmental organisation activated in an international level for the prevention of the use of drugs; it collaborates with the World Health Organisation(WHO), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Olympic Committee, as well as with governments and independent organisations.

    The keywords of Mentor action are “Prevention – Opportunity – Protection” and it supports programmes and activities that are addressed to children and young people giving them strength, values and opportunities in order to be able to make choices that would contribute to their health, their prosperity, not to succumb to pressure and to be in position to say “NO” to drugs.

    For the achievement of this aim, during its 10 years of operation, the Mentor Foundation has helped 10.000.000 children in 40 countries, has strengthened the encounter groups for the prevention of the use of addictive substances as well as educational programmes in four continents. The Mentor Foundation is supported and financed by individuals and enterprises in all over the world.

    The Members of the Board of Trustees of the Mentor Foundation are: HRH Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, HRH Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, HM Queen Noor of Jordan, HRH Crown Prince Felipe of Spain, HRH Prince Turki Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and others.

    In the last meeting of the members of the Board of Trustees of the Mentor Foundation, the action of its national and regional organisations and their future programmes were extensively discussed, while particular emphasis was given in the establishment of Mentor Arabia for the Arabic countries which has already begun since December 2004. Furthermore, the establishment of Mentor in Greece was also proposed by Mrs. Vardinoyannis.

    According to the data which Mentor collected from the relevant official organisations the use of drugs is worsened in the entire world.

    • Over 200 million people have used illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months.
    • The World Health Organisation estimates that 200.000 people died from the use of drugs in 2000.
    • Over 100.000 young people become regular smokers every day – mainly in the developed countries.
    • In certain countries of the European Union, about 1/3 of the children of 15 to 16 years old have tried cannabis at least once.
    • 1 out of 4 accidents in industries worldwide are attributed to the use of drugs or alcohol.
    • A recent research reveals that 15-year-old children that regularly smoke cannabis are 4.5 times more likely to suffer by schizophrenia at the age of 26.

    For these reasons, Mentor considered necessary to intensify the programmes of informing the public, even with the use of seminars at the working places. One of the most important programmes that it will immediately be applied by Mentor is the spread of its action via the Internet with online advisory services for parents and children as well as with educational seminars for schoolteachers and parents.