Pictured above: Mike Kendrick Foundation Founder and Dr Majid Alsadi

A UK-based anti-landmine foundation has announced the appointment of a new patron, whose financial support will bring about a renewed effort in both deployment of landmine detection technology and victim support.

The Mineseeker Foundation based in Bridgnorth, Shropshire has welcomed on board Dr Majid Alsadi, who joins their elite list of patrons which includes founder patron Nelson Mandela, Queen Noor of Jordan, Sir Richard Branson, Dame Graça Machel, Lord Attenborough, Brad Pitt and John Paul DeJoria.

Jordan-based businessman Dr Alsadi has already agreed a cash injection of £600,000 for the Mineseeker project in a bid to help the organisation achieve its goals.

"A significant financial boost such as this will make the most enormous difference to The Mineseeker Foundation, enabling us to move forward quickly in 2009 to achieve goals we have been striving to meet for the past eight years," said the foundation's founder Mike Kendrick.

"We've never been in a strong position before and it is all down to Dr Majid's input - he is a humanitarian with enormous foresight and he knows all too well how the ongoing effects of international conflict take their toll on innocent people around the globe."

The Mineseeker Foundation was created to find and deploy new technologies in landmine detection and then facilitate the rehabilitation of land and people affected by landmines, by providing both with sustainable programmes through the Sole of Africa and Africa's Got Legs projects.

"To be part of this remarkable undertaking that addresses a solvable problem which affects the whole world and countless people is a great honour," said Dr Alsadi.

"I am proud to stand side by side with my fellow patrons to build sustainable solutions to the landmine problem for the future of humanity. Mineseeker has been trying to raise the required funding to help eradicate this problem and I am formulating plans that will bring this to fruition."

Dr Alsadi is the chairman of Eastern Investment Group Holding, a British registered company that is based in Amman, Jordan, and operates in the Middle East, with offices in London, Washington, Dubai and Baghdad. The group's diverse activities spanning aviation services & training, air ambulance & medical evacuation, security services & training, industry and hotels.  

Dr Alsadi studied for a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Coventry University, where he is now a visiting professor, and he is also a professor of Telecoms-Engineering at De Montfort University, Leicester.

In 2007 Dr Alsadi founded the Alsadi Scholarship at Coventry University, UK. The scholarship supports 10 gifted international students a year from third world countries in completing their postgraduate degrees.

"The landmine problem is not getting any better - with estimates of over 100 million mines still below the surface of the earth and someone treading on one every 19 minutes, usually a woman or child, it is still a major man-made problem that causes devastation to thousands of victims," added Mike Kendrick.

"Dr Alsadi is already bringing new ideas to attract funding that will allow us to deploy the new technology that can finally rid the planet of this terrible threat to civilians. 

"Whilst Dr Alsadi, as a patron, will provide funding for the foundation and its projects, of more significance is the expertise and entrepreneurship that will drive joint venture partnerships and fundraising business opportunities."

The foundation is about to announce new high profile initiatives that will highlight the plight of landmine victims on an international level.

The foundation, whose head office is in the United Kingdom, also has offices in the United States and South Africa.