CHASE Africa, a charity based in Rode, Somerset, has appointed former environment and nature restoration minister Rebecca Pow as an ambassador for the organisation.

A life-long environmentalist, Rebecca served as environment and nature restoration minister between 2019 and 2024 and steered the Environment Act through Parliament – the largest legislation in two decades. During her time as Overseas Territories Minister, Rebecca championed Biodiversity Strategies and ocean conservation.

With a background in broadcasting and media, Rebecca was the first UK TV Environment Correspondent, one of the first women to produce and present BBC Farming Today on BBC Radio 4 and a presenter of the first organic gardening series on TV.

She received several accolades for her work including a Green Heart Hero Award from the Climate Coalition and was nominated by the ENDS Report as one of the top 50 women who have most influenced environmental policy.

The ex-MP for Taunton Deane has now become ambassador for CHASE Africa, a Somerset-based NGO that works to improve access to healthcare and remove barriers to family planning in remote, rural communities in East Africa.

They collaborate with local partners in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to improve women’s quality of life, taking a holistic approach that empowers women, alongside protecting biodiversity and improving the management of natural resources.

As a committed environmentalist, this is a cause close to Rebecca’s heart: “The role women play, especially in the rural communities where CHASE Africa works, is not only bringing up their children but working on the land and running their own enterprises.

And yet, they too often face tough barriers accessing the very services that can help them better cope with the challenges they face, in particular health information and services. In such rural areas, human health is closely interlinked with environmental challenges, relating to water, soil health and food production, which impact sanitation, hygiene, food security and incomes.

The dedicated and focused work that CHASE Africa does is making a real difference in these areas and is improving the health of rural woman and girls in Africa. I am delighted to be joining them as an Ambassador.”

Founded in 2000 by local Robin Witt, CHASE Africa began as a tree-planting initiative. However, they found that a lack of access to healthcare and family planning was undermining environmental resilience and perpetuating cycles of poverty. The charity expanded its mission to recognise the crucial link between human health and environmental stability.

Today they work with 13 local partners in East Africa delivering health services and information around community decision-making. Their projects have reached thousands of women and girls. In 2024 alone, they provided 154,000 Family Planning and other Sexual and Reproductive Health Services and worked in over 110 local schools.

Recently celebrating its 25-year anniversary, the team of 10 at CHASE Africa are working to increase their visibility. The charity will be present at Glastonbury Festival in June, raising awareness for its partners. Additionally, the Somerset charity is also going to be featured on BBC Radio 4’s charity appeal (broadcast July 13), presented by singer Joss Stone.