UNITED KINGDOM: Celebrities say farwell to MTV chairman Bill Roedy as he steps down from his post to concetrate on charity work.

Record ID: 625373

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Celebrities say farwell to MTV chairman Bill Roedy as he steps down from his post to concetrate on charity work.
  • Date: 30th January 2011
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JANUARY 27, 2011) (REUTERS) ROWLAND SPEAKING TO A JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGER, KELLY ROWLAND, SAYING: "All the Staying Alive Foundation is very important to me, when I've seen the work that the Staying Alive Foundation does, and I'm an ambassador for the Staying Alive Foundation, and I've actually gotten a chance to see the w
  • Embargoed: 14th February 2011 12:00
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  • Location: Spain, South Africa, United Kingdom
  • City:
  • Country: South Africa United Kingdom Spain
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA41CPTUXPFTSEZAKWTA14JNMGR
  • Story Text: Celebrities bid farewell to MTV boss Bill Roedy at a charity dinner in London, as he steps down from the company to concentrate on charity work.
    Celebrities gathered on Thursday (January 27) at London's Westbury Hotel to pay tribute and say farewell to MTV International Chairman Bill Roedy who is stepping down from his role to do more charity work.
    The evening was also a chance to raise money for MTV's Staying Alive Foundation a project aimed at raising awareness among young people about HIV and A.I.D.S.
    Speaking to Reuters as the guests arrived for the dinner, Bill Roedy explained what his objectives were when he was tasked with taking an American music channel with viewing figure of a few hundred thousand to the world.
    "My three objectives were, I want to be in every country, I wanted to build an operation which was the best, and secondly, I truly wanted to reflect and respect local cultures, this amazing diversity of the world," he said.
    With MTV now having 175 different television channels across the globe, and with total viewing figures thought to be of up to 2 billion, Roedy realised that it was a perfect platform to promote positive messages to the world's young people.
    "I like to say we were local before local was cool...then use that footprint, that global footprint, and use these connections with the audience in a local way to make the world a better place," he said.
    Roedy does not see stepping down from MTV as retirement, he sees it as an opportunity to focus on other charitable causes.
    "I'm going to continue some other global health initiatives, one is GAVI which is the Global Alliance for Vaccinations and immunisations. Giving vaccinations to everyone below the age of five, they've saved four million kids lives in the last ten years, it's Bill Gates and Melinda Gates Foundation's biggest initiative over the last ten years." he said. "I'm going back to chair the Global Business Coalition, I've joined ANFAR which is the aggregate of the research initiative fir HIV/A.I.D.S. So I'm taking on a few initiatives which I'm very excited about."
    With Nelson Mandela currently recovering at home in South Africa from a collapsed lung, Roedy paid tribute to the former South African President for the work he has done with A.I.D.S charities and for the example he has shown to the world since being released from prison.
    "He launched MTV Africa for us, we also had a show just about him called "Meeting Nelson Mandela" and he talks about forgiveness, and how you can achieve forgiveness, that's his mantra really. 27 years prison, prison guards treated him terribly, the first thing he does is invite the prison guards to his inauguration, so he's truth and reconciliation, after apartheid. So he's all about forgiveness, so he teaches our audience forgiveness, he teaches our audience perseverance, and very importantly he teaches us about how to prevent the spread of HIV," he said.
    Thursday evening's party was hosted by former Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland who sang at the dinner. Rowland paid her own tribute to Bill Roady.
    "I think Bill Roedy is one of the kindest, most passionate people I've actually ever met. He remembers a face, he never forgets a name, he just has a good spirit and it's very hard to meet people like that you know in life, period you know. So I'm just grateful we've created a friendship over the years and I'm here to celebrate this night with him tonight," she said.
    She also explained why she was supporting MTV's Staying Alive Foundation, which she has become an ambassador for.
    "The Staying Alive Foundation is very important to me," Rowland said. "I've actually gotten a chance to see the work that Staying Alive does for myself, and that's what made me want to be so hands-on just as much as they are, it's such a hands-on project, such a hands-on charity, and they care so much, everybody that's involved, and I think that's infectious because of Bill Roady, because of the fact that Bill shares so much."
    Following the dinner the guests had the chance to bit for items at a charity auction, the auction lots included a gold and diamond bracelet designed my Kelly Rowland, luxury holidays and a gold ipad - all the proceeds would go to Staying Alive.
    The Staying Alive Foundation was launched in 2005 as a public charity to support young people engaged in grassroots HIV and AIDS prevention projects.
    The Foundation's mission is to encourage, energise and empower young people who are involved in HIV/AIDS awareness, education and prevention campaigns. Twice a year the Foundation presents Staying Alive Grants to young people who have set up youth-led organisations that are focused on preventing HIV and demonstrate the potential to become future leaders. The grants are used to support relevant work by these organisations.
    The aims of its grant-making programme are three-fold: To educate young people [15 to 27 year olds] about HIV and AIDS prevention. To identify and support youth leaders in order to establish or renew a community response and commitment to prevention and management of HIV/AIDS. To alleviate the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS.
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