Concordia Magazine 2025

not know quite what I wanted to do, but I would like to pick her brain and potentially get involved with Made With Hope. That was seven years ago, and I have never looked back. Together Eleanor and I combined our skills and passion, and what was once a very small charity that supported 30 girls is now one that has raised over a million pounds and supports 7000 children every year in 12 schools in Tanzania. My dreams were coming true: I was giving the gift of education to others in the world. In truth, I feel as though I have barely scratched the surface of what is possible, and now, at the age of 34, I have a bigger vision to improve education in developing countries. In what has been an amazing journey, there are two other important people who should be mentioned. First, my partner Natasha, who kept me on track. When I was ready to give away all my belongings to those in need and live in a hut in Africa, she taught me that ultimately we live in a capitalist society, whether right or wrong, and those who are successful and credible have the power to bring about change on a much larger scale.

I returned astounded, but I was slammed back to reality and my ‘nine-to-five’ life building my career in the insurance business. I knew, though, that something had to change. In 2018 I left my job in the City. I needed the freedom to live in a way I could control and in which I could balance a career with my other ambitions. At the age of 26 I set up my own insurance brokerage (Sioma) and decided that I would work three or four days a week on my business and spend the rest of the time working for charity. At that time I did not know what charity really meant. I wanted to do something; I knew I cared about helping those in developing countries and I knew how important education is in relieving poverty. By complete luck, the only person I knew who worked in charity was Eleanor, whom I had met in 2012 while backpacking in South America and with whom I had stayed in touch loosely over Facebook. Since that time she had gone to Tanzania, set up a charity called Made With Hope, raised £10,000 and built an orphanage for girls, and she was now raising funds to support the school attached to the orphanage. Out of the blue I called Eleanor and told her my story; I said that I did

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