From 2020 to 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a virtual standstill, and humans suffered a disaster on a scale not seen since the end of WWII. According to data revealed by WHO in May 2022, the number of deaths worldwide directly or indirectly related to the 3-year-pandemic reached 15 million. During these challenging moments, in the UK and China respectively, the London headquarters of The Mothers’ Love Bridge (MBL) and the China Volunteer Center participated in pandemic relief and donated nearly a thousand medical face masks to British nursing homes.

In order to keep the founding purpose of MBL - building a bridge for cultural exchanges between China and the West for Chinese at home and abroad, in the face of the social divides and disputes caused by the pandemic, we diligently established a platform for equal dialogue between China and the West, to protest against discrimination towards Asians, and to inspire young people’s mindset of responsibility and awareness of our time. With the help and support of simultaneous interpreters from the University of Bath and two of our leading volunteers, He Ruiyun and Chen Zhihao, among others, opened fourteen sessions of the online bilingual cultural forum, namely the 'MBL Culture Dialogue' from April 2021 to September 2022. We invited and interviewed British experts on China issues such as Julia Lovell, Martin Jaques, Stephen Perry, Dr. YK Kumar, Prof Hugo de Burgh, as well as elite Chinese writers Feng Tang, Wu Fan, He Yue (author of FT), Zeng Biao (doctor of linguistic psychology) as well as women with great career success in the financial world of the UK. These efforts gained praise among our audiences from various countries, including China, the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Hungary, etc. We also had significant influence upon Chinese societies overseas. In fact, there are still organizations approaching MBL to co-host similar cultural events. During the same period, we also assisted and supported many international cultural forums targeting the exchange between China and other countries, such as the China-EU Relations Forum of the European Parliament, the Yuyuan Society and the Cultural Forum on the Other Side by American Chinese, the discussions on adoption and orphans by the UN, and the pandemic forum for social services by the NHS.

In August 2022, MBL’s volunteers in London had their first post-pandemic reunion. Two Norwegian adoptive families made a special trip to London to reunite with the volunteers. Everyone celebrated the 18th birthday of MBL, and discussed its future development plans.

 In November 2022, together with Fusion Education (FES) and KYX International (KYX), MBL co-hosted the first "UK English-Chinese Bilingual Recitation Competition". After three months of registration, volunteer training, preliminary competition and semi-finals, the finals and awards ceremony were held on November 27, 2022 at China Exchange in Chinatown, London. The participants fully demonstrated their linguistic talents in both English and Chinese. The judge panel of the competition was also extraordinary, including Hilary Sperling, a famous British writer, the winner of the 2006 Whitbread Prize, and author of "Between two worlds: A Story about Pearl Buck by Barbara Mitchell." and "Matisse the Master". The judges also included Professor Hugo De Burgh, founder of the China Media Center in the UK, Dr. David Henson, Head of the Department of Performing Arts at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and Freya Aitken-Turff, CEO of China Exchange. Four of them judged the English recitations, while for the Chinese part, Dr. Song Lianyi, head teacher of the Department of East Asia, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the University of London; He Yue, British sociologist as well as columnist of the FT Chinese website; James Li, founder and CEO of KYX International; and Wen Diya, former CCTV and Phoenix TV (Hong Kong) reporter all served as judges.

The 2nd UK English-Chinese Bilingual Recitation Competition in 2023 is co-hosted by MBL, FES, KYX, Chinese Culture Community of SOAS, University of London, and Xue Mo Culture. This year’s judge panel has expanded to a team of 12, of which all members are leading figures in both the UK and China. Ms. Hilary Spurling, Dr. David Henson, Dr. Song Lianyi, Ms. Diya Wen, Ms. He Yue, and Mr. James Li will once again serve as judges, while new panel members include Professor Julia Lovell, the well-known translator and sinologist as well as Professor of Chinese Literature and Cultural History at Birkbeck College, University of London; Dr. Frances Wood, chief of Chinese Collections at the British Library; Beth McKillop, former deputy, senior fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum and an expert on Chinese and Korean art at SOAS; and Huw May, the principal of Kensington Wade English-Chinese Bilingual School. While retaining the panel members of the last competition, the Chinese judge panel will also have two new members: Dr. Zeng Biao, director of the EEG Laboratory at the University of South Wales, and Cao Jinyue, tax director of Blick Rothenerg Partner, writer and Chinese magazine editor. The Competition opened registration in mid-September 2023, and the final will be held on November 19, 2023 at the Djam Lecture Theatre at SOAS in London. MBL sincerely invites support from people of all walks of life and is willing to work together for the rise of a new generation of Chinese-English bilingual citizens, thereby fostering communities and schools with diverse cultures in the West.

In order to provide practical services to adopted Chinese children growing up in 27 countries; to address the confusions related to their abandonment after birth, and to establish communication channels for adoptees between various places, as well as to mark its 20th anniversary, MBL is actively soliciting their needs and planning to open an online dialogue platform in 2024. We will invite experts and scholars on adoption, as well as Chinese adoption institutions and orphanages, to raise their voices for the adoptees on our platform and provide them with knowledge and assistance in corresponding fields. This will enable these formerly abandoned children to receive more practical attention and support, providing brightness and love for their unique life journey!

MBL's B4K was relaunched after the pandemic and received strong support from the British Consulate in Chongqing, China, as well as from the Chinese writer Xue Mo and his team. MBL’s China Volunteer Center is actively unblocking relief channels hampered by the changes during the pandemic in order to deliver books, school supplies, and urgently needed daily necessities to children in poverty-stricken areas. As of 2023, MBL has supported 28 rural primary school libraries in China, and the 29th MBL children's library is under planning and preparation.

2024 is the 20th anniversary of MBL, and it is also a new chapter for us to continue our efforts. MBL hopes our website, which is being adjusted and updated, can guide more recipients, volunteers, and collaborators to walk on our bridge of love, with the same aspirations, and move towards mutual understanding and fulfillment.

Over the past 20 years, tiny drops from the contributions of MBL have turned into a stream, and its path has already been covered with grass. Morale, elegance and sophistication are our principles for doing charity. We would like to extend our gratitude to all our supporters for caring for us. We look forward to working hand in hand with you in order to provide more cultural support for Chinese children at home and abroad!