Londoner’s loving legacy
98. Gaby Eirew
The daughter of a holocaust survivor who has created a way for people to leave messages for their loved ones.
Gaby Eirew, from north London, set up the website recordmenow.org in 2007. RecordMeNow, with an accompanying free app, enables anyone to record and download messages to keep and share.
Gaby created an app that is a permanent video-recorded remembrance to parents who pass away, giving emotional reassurance to the children they leave behind. Following a five year research project into people who lost their parents before the age of 16, Gaby uncovered the aching need for children to be told much more about their parent, death and their childhood, to cope better at the time of their parent’s death and later. Gaby devotes all her time as the founder and director of RecordMeNow which is supported by 14 volunteers including medical professionals and computer programmers.
The service, which currently receives 40,000 clicks a day and has been downloaded by 18,000 people across 32 countries, has won support from Prince William and the Clinton Foundation. RecordMeNow has been used in a variety of ways – young parents who want to record something just in case, to parents who gave up their children for adoption, hospices and organisations supporting those who are terminally ill to individuals who simply want to record their memories for their families and friends after they die.
RecordMeNow manages to touch people throughout the world, and Gaby plays an important role in spreading the news of the organisation. Gaby visits hospitals and hospices across the world who are able to call her for support when someone needs her. Gaby also regularly presents findings from her research at medical conferences, raising awareness of RecordMeNow and how a simple recording by parents can help children be better supported to cope with their parent’s death.
Prime Minister David Cameron said:
“Gaby has been inspired by one of the darkest moments in modern history to develop a truly unique way of helping others with grief and loss. RecordMeNow has struck a chord with people across the world demonstrated by an incredible 40,000 clicks a day to the website. Gaby thoroughly deserves her Point of Light award for the hard work and dedication she has put in to RecordMeNow.”
Gaby Eirew said:
‘It is so important that parents leave messages for their children – just in case of early death. Our free app makes it easy’