Sarah Jane Brown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sarah Brown
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Brown in 2009
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Sarah Jane Macaulay
31 October 1963 Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England
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| Alma mater | University of Bristol |
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| Children | 3 |
Sarah Jane Brown (born 31 October 1963), known as Sarah Brown, is an English person who works to improve global health and education. She started and leads the children's charity Theirworld. She is also the executive chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education and helped create A World at School.
She was a founding partner of Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications, a company that helps manage public image. She is married to Gordon Brown. He was in charge of the UK's money as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007. Later, he became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010.
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Early Life and Career
Sarah Jane Macaulay was born in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, on 31 October 1963. Her mother, Pauline, was a teacher. Her father, Iain, worked for a book publisher.
When Sarah was two, her family moved to Tanzania. Her mother started a school there. When Sarah was eight, her parents separated. Her mother remarried, and they moved to North London. Sarah lived there with her mother, stepfather, and two younger brothers.
She went to Acland Burghley Secondary School and Camden School for Girls. Later, she studied psychology at the University of Bristol.
After university, she worked at a company called Wolff Olins. When she was 30, she started her own company, Hobsbawm Macaulay. She did this with an old school friend, Julia Hobsbawm. Their company helped clients with their public image. Some of their clients included the Labour Party.
In 2000, she married Gordon Brown. In October 2001, she left her company because she was expecting her first child.
Helping Others: Health and Education
Helping Mothers, Babies, and Education
In 2002, Sarah Brown started a charity called Theirworld. It was first known as PiggyBankKids. The charity began by funding research into problems during pregnancy. In 2004, they set up the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory at the University of Edinburgh. This lab studies problems in pregnancy and childbirth. They especially focus on babies born too early.
On 16 November 2015, Brown launched the Theirworld Birth Cohort project. This project is a big study to improve the health of women and babies born early. It tracks 400 babies, mostly those born before 32 weeks. The study follows them into adulthood. It looks at their learning to find out what causes brain injury at birth. This helps develop new treatments for premature babies.
Theirworld also works on global education. They started the A World at School movement in 2013. They organized a "youth takeover" of the United Nations in 2013. The charity also helps children affected by wars and disasters. This includes refugee children from the Syria crisis in Lebanon.
Brown is also the first chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education. This group works with business leaders to help all children get a good education. She is also part of a special group for global education.
In 2008, Brown became a global leader for the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. This group helps mothers have safe births. She also helped start the Maternal Mortality Campaign. She is an expert on this topic.
In 2009, Brown spoke at the World Health Organization's meeting. She asked why mothers' health was not getting enough attention. She pointed out that many women were still dying during pregnancy or childbirth.
Brown also led a group on maternal and newborn deaths. This group started in September 2009. The Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, supported this group. He said that mothers dying during childbirth needed a strong voice.
Brown led a meeting at the United Nations in 2009. They discussed a "new plan for maternal, newborn and child health." At this meeting, 10 countries said they would stop charging pregnant women for medical care during birth. This plan aimed to save over 10 million women and children by 2015. The G8 group of countries supported this plan.
#UpForSchool Petition
In 2014, Brown helped launch the #UpForSchool petition. This was a worldwide campaign started by young people. It began at a youth event in New York City. Many important people supported it, including Graça Machel and Gordon Brown. The petition asks world leaders to keep their promise. This promise was to ensure all children get a primary education.
Many groups and people supported the petition. Nobel Peace Prize winners Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai were involved. Other supporters included Justin Bieber and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Even the game company Rovio made a special Angry Birds level for the petition.
By September 2015, over 10 million people had signed the petition. It was presented at a special event in New York City. Singer Shakira also helped present the petition signatures to Gordon Brown.
Other Activities
Sarah Brown uses social media to promote education and maternal health. She has been named one of the most influential women on Twitter by Forbes magazine. In 2014, The Independent newspaper said she was the second "most powerful Briton" on Twitter.
Brown supports several charities. She is a patron of Women's Aid, which helps people affected by domestic violence. She also supports Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres and the SHINE Education Trust.
She is also a patron of the CBI First Women Awards. These awards celebrate women who have achieved great things. They honor women who have opened doors for other women.
Brown is a friend of writer J. K. Rowling. They wrote a children's book together for a charity that helps single-parent families.
Sarah Brown has received awards for her work helping women and children. These include the Vision and Impact Award and the Global Leadership Award. She also received honors from medical organizations.
In February 2015, it was announced that Sarah Brown would be on a special edition of The Great British Bake Off. This was for the charity event Comic Relief.
Marriage to Gordon Brown
Sarah and Gordon Brown met on a flight in 1994. They were going to a political conference in Scotland. Their relationship was kept private for a few years. In June 1997, a newspaper published a picture of them together.
They got married on 3 August 2000. The wedding was in Gordon Brown's hometown of North Queensferry, Scotland.
On 28 December 2001, Sarah gave birth early to a baby girl named Jennifer Jane. Sadly, Jennifer Jane died when she was only ten days old. Gordon spoke about Sarah's strength after their daughter's death.
On 17 October 2003, their second child, John, was born. Their third child, James Fraser, was born on 17 July 2006. James was later diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a serious lung condition.
Spouse of the Prime Minister
Gordon Brown became Prime Minister on 27 June 2007. This happened after Tony Blair resigned. As the Prime Minister's wife, Sarah Brown was generally well-liked. People saw her as a modern public figure. She was good at talking to people and using social media.
Sarah introduced Gordon at the Labour Party conferences in 2008 and 2009. It was her idea to do this in 2008. She had seen Michelle Obama do something similar for her husband, the US President Barack Obama.
Authors Anthony Seldon and Guy Lodge wrote a book about Gordon Brown's time as Prime Minister. They said Sarah brought stability to him and his office. She also encouraged him to stay in his role until the end.
Gordon Brown's time as Prime Minister ended after the 2010 General Election. No single party won enough seats to form a government easily. The Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, won the most seats. On 11 May 2010, they formed a government with another party. This happened after Gordon Brown's attempts to keep Labour in power failed.
Memoir
In 2011, Sarah Brown published a book about her time as the Prime Minister's wife. It was called Behind the Black Door.
The book was written like a diary. It shared her personal view of politics. Some reviewers called it "fascinating and endearing." Others said it was "one long, formulaic press release" praising Gordon Brown.
The Telegraph newspaper called it a "strange book." However, the reviewer found her descriptions of international charity events "fun at last." The book helped people feel sympathy for Brown.
The Irish Independent newspaper described the book as a "disturbingly giddy" diary. It said there was "nothing in the slightest bit revelatory about it." But it also said Brown came across as "decent and likeable."
The New Statesman magazine noted that Brown successfully described the "awkwardness of the lifestyle." It also showed how her personal life and political events sometimes clashed. The magazine concluded that the book was full of "thoughtfulness and... courtesy."
Images for kids
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Brown in 2009
See also
In Spanish: Sarah Jane Brown para niños
