Save the Children International is believed to be "urgently" trying to contain reputational damage after more than 118,000 people signed a petition opposing an award to Tony Blair for his anti-poverty work.

Blair was given the award by Save the Children US for his work preventing poverty in Africa.

However the petition says that this is overshadowed by his legacy of war in Iraq and calls for the award to be revoked.

An internal petition, believed to have been signed by several hundred staff at the charity, has also been circulating.

An email believed to be from Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children International, has been widely circulated on social media.

The email reveals that Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children UK and a former Blair employee, was indirectly involved in delivering the award.

“We have to address things on two levels – both urgent and important,” said the email, which Save the Children says it cannot confirm or deny is genuine.

“Urgently, right now, a team is trying hard to contain the situation and stop things escalating further, detracting from our wider work for children. The point has been made and more coverage of the issue will not help children.

“Importantly, we must safeguard and rebuild the trust and commitment to our shared values that we have worked so hard on over the last few years.”

The email said the award had been given out because the US arm of the charity “did not see anything sensitive” in giving an award to Blair.

“In the USA Tony Blair is widely seen very positively for his contribution to international aid,” the email said.

But it said that since that point, staff across the world has expressed concerns.

“We respect your views and want to hear from you,” it said. “It was very helpful to hear from those of you who communicated internally and we appreciate being able to engage directly. “Some staff chose to express themselves by signing a petition. Sadly there have also been leaks of internal emails to the media.”