The United Kingdom's 40 Days For Life

“Abortion is the greatest human rights tragedy of our age,” Robert Colquhoun said. “Unborn children are incapable of defending themselves adequately, and therefore we must be a voice for the voiceless.”

Thirty-year-old Robert Colquhoun is the campaign director for 40 Days For Life London. He also is the head of international outreach, for which he helps find supporters in new cities and countries across the globe who are interested and willing to start their own 40 days for life campaigns.

“Currently we have 10 local campaigns in the UK and 19 countries around the world have run their own 40 days for life campaigns,” Robert said.

“40 Days For Life is a locally organized community initiative encouraging Christians to pray and fast for an end to abortion. Since the campaign started, more than 7,500 lives have been saved from abortion, 32 abortion clinics have closed and 501 cities have participated in the campaign. We anticipate continuing to grow steadily around the world.” 

In 2004, there was an hour of prayer in College Station, Texas that activated the 40 Days For Life campaign that has now gone global with a presence in all 50 states and many countries.

There are three parts to 40 Days for Life, Robert shared: fasting and prayer for an end to abortion; peaceful vigil to witness outside of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service; and Community outreach with positive and upbeat messages through media and advocacy.

“A person is a person no matter how small! Modern technology is helping us to see and rejoice with pictures of children in the womb even from a very early stage of development,” Robert said. “The future of humanity passes by way of the family - we need to nourish, protect and cherish every human life.”

“People can get involved in the pro-life movement, first by training themselves to know as much as possible about the cause and then finding local pro-life groups with which they can use their talents and abilities to make a difference. They can even get a 40 Days For Life campaign running in their city if there is not one already,” Robert shared.

Part of getting trained is learning how to properly raise funds for the cause of your choice.

So, Robert decided to enroll in the Leadership Institute’s annual International School of Fundraising this past March.

“I found the LI’s International School of Fundraising extremely useful. It was fascinating to meet many people from around the world, and I have been thoroughly impressed by the quality of the publications and work from the Leadership Institute,” Robert shared. 

“I plan to use the knowledge and expertise I discovered at the school specifically for pro-life work in the UK.  LI’s training encouraged participants to consider donors more as collaborators with projects and to involve them as much with the organization as possible. I also discovered the importance of promptly thanking people for their gifts and being as professional and astute with personal relationships as possible.”

He continued, “The Leadership Institute helps to train, equip and empower the conservative leaders of tomorrow.”

So get trained today.

Register online for an upcoming LI training near you here. 

Please congratulate and welcome Robert Colquhoun as LI’s Graduate of the Week.

To nominate a Leadership Institute graduate or faculty member to be featured as LI's spotlight of the week, please contact LI's External Affairs Officer Lauren Day, formerly Lauren Hart, at Lauren@LeadershipInstitute.org.