We at Pillow May would like to again say a HUGE thank you to all who came or supported our barn dance; it was an amazing afternoon/evening but wouldn’t have been without you all. We had a wonderful turn out and everyone had such a great time!
Pillow May didn’t just fancy an excuse to have a knees up and dance, but is currently celebrating its 10th year of trading. To mark this, we wanted to give something back; more than our usual B1G1 giving. Jessica heard Nicky Mih speaking about Free to Shine at a B1G1 conference and it really struck a chord. Jessica was, as were the rest of the girls in the office, deeply shocked to hear about the awful things that are happening each day to girls in Cambodia in the sex trafficking industry. We all felt inspired to support Free to Shine which helps young girls achieve their full potential through education and support. This aim felt similar to Pillow May’s own mission to allow working mums to achieve their full potential in the UK accountancy profession.
Free To Shine is a well-respected charity who are working hard in Cambodia to prevent the sex trafficking of young girls. They employ and train local Cambodian social workers who work closely with the local families. They realised that the girls were much less vulnerable to being trafficked if they were in school, so they focus on getting the maximum number of girls into school. They identify a young girl who they believe is vulnerable and before they are preyed upon by the traffickers, they support the girl and her family. This support is given not through handouts but by empowerment. They help the family meet their basic primal needs of food, shelter & warmth so the children have time to go to school. This is done through practical solutions such as building materials for simple shelters; water filters for clean water; and vegetable seeds for food; and education on how to use them so that the whole community are helped to look after themselves. Then the children are supported so that they can access the free public education in Cambodia through bikes to get to school and uniform, books & pens to use at school.
Pillow May is only a small business with a small budget, but with your help and support we are proud to announce that we have not only reached but exceeded our target of supporting one young girl to attend school throughout her whole school life. This will have a huge impact to that girl, her family and her entire village community.
6 of the Pillow May team Visited Cambodia from 3-11 June 2019 for a team development trip. We visited Free to Shine to understand the issues that mothers and girls face in Cambodia. We also hope to support the work that the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales) are already doing within professional accountancy training to help build up financial expertise again in Cambodia, after the Khmer Rouge regime. Why not take a look at our travel blog on twitter (@pillowmay), Instagram (@pillowmay_jessica) & the Pillow May Ltd Facebook page and read about our experience at https://www.pillowmay.co.uk/humbling-tour-to-cambodia/
See more amazing photos on the Pillow May Ltd Facebook page
