Pippa’s Guardians welcomes new Somerset Area Manager Carole Milnes
Pippa’s Guardians are delighted to welcome Carole Milnes, joining us as an Area Manager for Somerset.
Carole lives near Wedmore, Somerset, with her two daughters, Emma and Sofia, and their chocolate lab. Both girls attend independent day and boarding school Sidcot, and this September Emma begins her final year of primary school, as older sister Sofia starts her International Baccalaureateprogramme.
Carole’s career in Investment banking began in London and took her and her family all the way to Mexico City, and when Sofia began school there, Carole embraced all aspects of school life, organising school events with parents, teachers and staff. This lead to Carole working on the board of Governors for four years, before the family moved back to the UK in 2015.
Carole’s girls took this huge change in their stride, and are thriving at UK boarding school as bilingual, happy, global citizens – something that Carole takes pride in, with her first hand experience giving her unique insight into the challenges that international students face.
Carole said: ‘These are very formative years and I know that when provided with a secure, friendly and supportive environment children not only learn to adapt quickly to their new school life but also really flourish both academically and socially. As a child, I attended boarding school for sixth form in England. It was such a positive experience for me that it not only provided me with the academic platform to go on and study beyond postgraduate level but the friendships I formed there have been strong and supportive throughout my life.’
Ben Hughes, Pippa’s Guardians MD, said: 'Carole's experience and understanding of international education makes her a dynamic addition to Pippa's Guardians; we're excited to work with her and warmly welcome her to the team.
Pippa’s Guardians’ Lisa Hughes raises fantastic £1400 in Armed Forces Charity Trek
This month, Pippa’s Guardians’ own Lisa Hughes took on the considerable challenge of trekking 25k over the Brecon Beacons to raise funds for Scotty’s Little Soldiers - a charity dedicated to supporting bereaved British Armed Forces children, giving them ‘the chance to smile again’.
Lisa and another three Ledbury women, describing themselves as ‘very unlikely suspects’ for the significant hiking challenge, were inspired to raise money for Scotty’s Little Soldiers after the group discovered the charity on Facebook and were impressed by their work, forming the aptly named group ‘Scotty’s Little Helpers’ and setting up their own Justgiving page.
The group broke out their waterproofs and walking books to brave the harsh mountainous South Wales terrain which currently serves as an SAS training ground, hopeful that the tough ordeal would encourage people to donate and to help them reach their £1000 fundraising target.
As they ascended the highest peak in South Wales, Pen Y Fan, they faced vertical climbs, rough terrain, wind, hail and torrential rain; but, soldiering on, the four were able to successfully complete the trek in less than eight ours, with Lisa finishing in an impressive 7 hours and 29 minutes and raising a combined total of over £1400 for Scotty’s Little Soldiers.
The group said the hiking event was ‘very well run’ and that they were ‘spurred on through the hard bits knowing we were trekking for a great cause - the work Scotty’s Little Helpers do is truly is fantastic and this was our way to help the children they support.’
Congratulations to Lisa and her team! To find out more about Scotty’s Little Helpers challenge and to donate, visit:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/scottyslittlehelpers