People Inspired By Purpose - Purposely Podcast

‘my brother and his friends' battle with HIV motivated me to want to help’ – Anne Aslett joins Purposely Podcast to share her story Anne Aslett is the Chief Executive Officer of the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF). She has been with the Foundation for almost 20 years having joined from the commercial sector. Initially Anne joined as a volunteer and she is now their Global CEO and responsible for disbursing over $60 million in grants. Anne talks about her brothers fight with HIV and misdiagnosed brain tumour that would eventually take his young life. How his experience along with that of his close friends led her to want to help others going through the same thing. She initially joined HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust (UK) as a volunteer moving on to help Elton John set up a supporter database for his own AIDS Foundation. You will hear how a bold suggestion to Elton and his manager, interrupting a conversation they were having in the office, led to a popup shop selling Elton’s used clothing and raised significant funds to help their early work. Anne shares the story of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and their mission to end discrimination, HIV infections and AIDS deaths. No matter who or where you are in the world. More specifically Anne talks about the incredible success they have had with a project in South London whereby they switched to automatic HIV testing rather than the traditional opt in test. Anne also talks about working what it is like to work Elton John as well Elton’s husband David Furnish who is the Chairman of the Foundation.  How she travelled with the charity’s celebrity Patron Victoria Beckham to a project affecting girls at risk of HIV and she was up close and personal when President Macron awarded Elton with the Legion d’Honneur and they jointly launched their most successful partnership.

Katy is the co-founder and Managing Director of Skylark Works, a purpose-led consultancy providing practical business support to organisations delivering positive social impact. Support can take many forms, including delivery of practical projects, making pan-sector connections and sharing helpful guidance. Things changed for Katy when she was made redundant from Woodford Investment Management following a turbulent 2019, which saw the company close its doors. ‘Woodford was much more than just a job for me, colleagues were close friends and I’m someone who really cares, so I gave an awful lot to my job. It was a really difficult time, mentally draining and emotionally and physically exhausting as well. As cliched as it sounds, sometimes the hardest things teach you the most and I definitely look back on that period and think about how much I learned’. Katy’s background in delivering strategic growth has enabled her to apply her commercial acumen to her new position, helping other organisations to scale, be sustainable and deliver positive social impact. Katy now places a much greater emphasis on her own wellbeing, after realising that she had been neglecting her health. She can provide great insight for Skylark’s clients, having been heavily involved in the corporate world and understands how businesses need to truly embed social purpose to remain relevant and enact real change for society. Consumers want to be involved with businesses that can really demonstrate a social and ethical compass. ‘People are no longer satisfied with just getting the best product or best financial return, it needs to have positive social impact or positive environmental impact too.' You can find out more about Skylark Works on their website - https://www.skylarkworks.com.'She also had a successful career that led her to time in America, New Zealand, London and Australia. You will hear about Katy’s early years on her family farm, her love for New Zealand and what it is like for an English woman living in Edinburgh.

Dave McKee joins Purposely Podcast to share his unique founder story It all started with a phone call from his daughter Sophie seventeen years ago when she was in Guatemala and he was in Nottingham. Sophie was teaching disadvantaged children English when she discovered the school was on the brink of collapse because they had no funding. A call to her Dad changed both their futures and set them on a new path helping to transform the lives of children living in poverty. Together they set up the UK Charity ‘Education for the Children’ which runs and funds a school in in the Jocotenango region of Guatemala. Over the last two decades they have dramatically raised local education standards and empowered thousands of children living in the region to reach their full potential through access to quality education. With one of the lowest literacy rates in the Western Hemisphere, many people in Jocotenango struggle to find jobs or put food on the table. The charity’s aim is set their students up with jobs and employment opportunities available to those with qualifications in neighbouring Antigua and Guatemala City. Dave is both the founder and Chief Executive while Sophie is an active trustee and they both live in a small town near Valencia, Spain.

Mary Storrie joins Purposely Podcast to tell her inspirational story On the 28th of December 2003 Mary’s world came crashing down. At a Christmas party, Rosie May their only daughter, aged 10 at the time, was brutally murdered by a 17 year old boy she knew. Mary talks about the devastation this caused both to herself, her husband and their two sons. How this violent and senseless act has changed them as a family for ever. In honour of her memory the family dramatically changed the direction of their lives with a focus on helping others. A year after the death of her daughter the family decided to escape the horrific recollections of the Christmas before and go on a family holiday to South East Asia. On Christmas Day, they planted a little palm tree in loving memory of Rosie May. On boxing day, as they stood on the shore of the Indian Ocean the tsunami hit. It claimed more than 230,000 lives across fourteen different countries and was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. Mary talks about being lucky to survive that disaster, however, she also describes their sense of calm, as her son said succinctly,  ‘we have already faced our worst nightmare’. Mary went back to find the tiny palm tree they had planted, and incredibly it had survive. Mary saw this as a clear sigh that Rosie May was watching over them and had kept them, her brothers and the tiny palm tree safe. This was the inspiration for the Rosie May Foundation. Their personal tragedy gave them the determination to do something extraordinary. To turn tragedy into hope and create a living legacy to the daughter they loved so much. They wanted to give children in crisis the right to a future, one that Rosie May has tragically been denied. Their very first project, the Rosie May Home for girls, was opened for children who had lost parents to the tsunami in Sri Lanka. Today the charity is at the forefront of the deinstitutionalisation (children out of orphanages into smaller loving homes) agenda in Sri Lanka, conducting research driving the process forward, and working with key partners, both in the UK and on the ground. Partners like Hope and Homes for Children (see #16 HHC founder Mark Cook speaks with Purposely Podcast). They also operate in Nepal and their fundraising reach has stretched as far as Australia. Impressively Mary has also been back to University to do a bachelor of arts and a masters in human rights and global citizenship. Mary sees the importance of this later life education to her current role as CEO of an international development charity.  The time spent as an adult student proved therapeutic and she could choose if she wanted to share her story or just be ‘Mary the adult student’. She received several awards for her academic achievements while in Nottingham.

Nic Russell joined Purposely Podcast to share her founder story Nic reflects on the start of Kenzie’s Gift in 2006, founded with the intent of providing appropriate and research-based psychosocial support for children experiencing grief and loss within the family. Nic Russell’s daughter Kenzie was only two years old when she was diagnosed with a paraspinal cancerous tumour.  Although Kenzie won her battle with cancer, the prolonged and aggressive medical treatment was more than her small body could take. Kenzie died on the 29th of December 2005. Through this tragedy came the hope for families that is Kenzie’s Gift. Since the establishment of Kenzie’s Gift, the charity has helped over 200 families through more than 2000 psychotherapy sessions and distributed over a 1,000 copies of their printed resource packs, the My Journey Kit and Memories Are Forever. Nic reflects on Kenzie's life as well as her own health challenges with breast cancer, a degenerative condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy  and parkinsons disease (diagnosed at age 46). Nic also talks about her passion for sport and how she finds swimming and being by the seaside hugely therapeutic. 

‘Millennials Changing the face of Philanthropy’ Laurence Marshbaum joins Purposely Podcast to share his founder story Laurence is Founder and Chairman of 10x10 Philanthropy, a non-profit, millennial based movement that has raised and distributed over $2M to grassroots charities around the world. In 2013 Laurence and a group of close friends started the movement in Sydney, engaging over 10,000 individual donors, 900 core volunteers. Not only is he the founder of an amazing charity enterprise but he also has a top job in finance, playing a key role in Alternative Strategies for Australian based fund Sunsuper. This role has taken him to New York, London and Australasia and has given him some amazing opportunities - but also made him realise how fortunate he was. His Jewish faith grounded him and gave him an appreciation of the power and effectiveness of giving. Laurence is a driven and passionate individual who is only just getting started! He has plans to further scale and grow this innovative nonprofit to more people, cities and countries.  He lays down the challenge to others to join him on the 10x10 Philanthropy Mission. Listen to find out more about the people, podcasts and books that have inspired him throughout his journey. Episode Notes: 1. Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas https://www.amazon.com.au/Winners-Take-All-Charade-Changing/dp/0451493249 2. Mans Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl - https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl-ebook/dp/B009U9S6FI 3. 10x10 Website – www.10x10philanthropy.com

David Pitcher joins Purposely Podcast to share his founder story David Pitcher utilised a brief volunteer experience in 2014 to reshape his future, from a corporate towards a life of purpose. This seminal moment led him to start the charity Wheely Tots a successful social enterprise helping hundreds of families and children in North London to live healthier lives.  It utilises the process of learning to ride and enjoying cycling to lead people to empowerment, greater confidence and more resilience. David talks about his own passion for riding and how that helped him settle on cycling as programme choice. However, he points to his own families lived experience providing the ‘real’ inspiration to start a charity to help improve people’s lives. His family a blend of English (Yorkshire) and Polish roots had been through some hard times and as he saw that they lacked resilience and confidence but had a drive to work hard.  David explains that Wheely Tots works with a number immigrant families as well people who are struggling to get on life and challenged by the effects of poverty. focus on supporting families and young people in Haringey and North Hackney, London

David Crosweller joins Purposely Podcast to share his founder story Sanitation First provide ecosan toilets to people in India and Africa. Incredibly they have helped to transform the lives of 350,000 people since their launch in 1997.  Their slogan is to ‘tackle poverty one toilet at a time’. David had been running a marketing agency in the UK which collapsed in the 1990 economic crash.  This led him to re-focus his career deciding to help others and live a life of purpose. David started Sanitation First with his friend Andy Barr after a life changing visit to Africa where he saw the devastating effects of disease-ridden water and lack of proper sanitation. David talks about crying for an hour in a hotel room following a visit to a hospital where a third of patients had died from diseases directly related to dirty water. They started to construct eco-toilets in a country that had no toilets for millions of people. In 2005 they developed the first composting toilet which was built in an Indian school, a unit that is still in use to this day. This school, like so many others, now has long-term sustainable sanitation and the impact, especially for girls, is enormous. There has been a 17.5% increase in the number of girls enrolling with almost 100% finishing senior school and approximately half going on to further education. A toilet has a big impact.

Tara Arnold lost her first born son Buddy in July 2017, tragically he was stillborn. Tara joins Purposely Podcast to share her story and how she recovered from her ‘catastrophic trauma’. Her deep grief propelled her to start a social enterprise, helping others who have also lost a baby. Tara has gone on to have a second child, a little girl who is now one year old. Nova Foundation, the charity set up to honour Buddy’s memory, provides support so that other parents do not have to deal with the loss of a baby alone. The lack of therapeutic support she received was a motivator for Tara, she realised how little bereavement or trauma support was available to parents who lose a newborn. Nova educates parents to understand the difference between trauma and bereavement and ensures that traumatised parents receive the support and understanding they need to rehabilitate into their ‘new normal’. Nova Foundation’s vision is a world without babyloss. The mission is to ensure that every parent who experiences babyloss receives immediate comfort, trauma and bereavement support for as long as they need, as well as anxiety and practical support in any subsequent pregnancies.

Jamie Feilden joins Purposely Podcast to share his founder story about Jamie’s Farm. Jamie’s Farm was set up to provide a life changing rural experience for disadvantaged inner-city children and young people. The aim of the intense farming experience is to provide a catalyst for change, enabling disadvantaged young people to thrive academically, socially and emotionally long after their visit. They do this through a unique residential experience and rigorous follow-up programme, combining farming, family and therapy. Their vision is that vulnerable young people nationwide (across the United Kingdom) will be better equipped to thrive during secondary school years and beyond. You will hear how the initial spark for the charity came when Jamie Feilden was teaching in the first cohort of Teach First participants in a Croydon comprehensive. Shocked by the battleground the school had become stemming from poor behaviour and a lack of engagement, he initially brought lambs from his own farm in Wiltshire and set up animal pens in the school playground, charging his pupils with the job of looking after them; he observed that it was frequently the children who struggled most to focus and maintain positive relationships in school who benefited most from the responsibility and nurture needed to tend to these animals. At this point, he came up with the idea of taking pupils back to his home farm in Wiltshire. Using his own farming experience and the 30 years’ worth of experience that Tish, Jamie’s mother, had built up as a psychotherapist, they developed an approach based on Farming, Family and Therapy and piloted weeklong visits through the family home. From day one Jamie was determined that the farm would not be a ‘petting zoo’ but that there would be real jobs with a real purpose. When combined with the therapeutic methodology that Tish devised and the essence of a loving, family framework of support, a powerful intervention was born. From the very first week, they witnessed the profound impact that this combination could have on disengaged teenagers. Thirty-five pilot weeks were run through the family home, before the need for a purposely-converted farm became apparent. Farming, Family and Therapy, delivered via a five-day residential and follow-up programme, aims to addresses the root causes of exclusion by equipping vulnerable children to thrive during their secondary school years.