BA Hons Landscape Architecture
In 1990 I became familiar with Cheltenham and university life thanks to my brother Piers who was studying a BAHons degree in Landscape Architecture. I quickly grew to like it, and, as I had so often done throughout my life, I followed Piers’s path and was accepted onto the course in 1993, with a slight foot in the door.
Piers and I worked together as Garden Designers for 6.5 years until I got itchy feet and decided to embark on a year of travel in 2003. In Thailand, I met a bunch of teachers who invited me to their School and I was hooked - the following academic year (Aug 2004) I started work at Prem, an International School in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand teaching sport.
That Christmas, I was joined by Piers and two friends on the Thai island of Koh Phi Phi. It was paradise until 10.36am December 26th when the tsunami struck. Tragically Piers did not survive – our search for him lasted 5 days until his body was found and taken to a makeshift morgue.
The Piers Simon Appeal (PSA) was launched at the memorial service primarily as a donation appeal to help the people on Koh Phi Phi. Five and a half years on, running the charity has now become my full time job. Our mission is to support victims of disasters through Disaster Relief and School in a Bag and to date we have raised over £375,000 and helped victims of disasters in 10 countries.
Our latest venture, ‘School in a Bag’ is a simple concept designed to help poor, vulnerable, orphan and disaster-affected children throughout the world. Each SchoolBag is filled with basic stationery equipment and resources that will enable a child to write, colour, draw, calculate, express themselves and above all learn. The cost of a PSA SchoolBag is just £10.
In June 2010, the first 400 SchoolBags were sent to two Orphanages in Sierra Leone. We have since received a request from the International Charity HANCI for 1,321 more. School in a Bag: Sierra Leone phase II is off!
My role as Charity Liaison Officer is a varied one as essentially I run the charity. Everyday is different – from organising fundraisers (music festivals and cycle challenges) to monitoring disaster relief websites and reports to see if we can make secure donations to disaster victims.
I regularly talk to schools or groups about the PSA – presenting work is an aspect I had plenty of practice at during my time studying in Cheltenham. It is good to know that even though I am now not practicing what I studied, there are still elements that remain wholly applicable in my role running the PSA.
For more information about the Piers Simon Appeal, please visit our website at www.pierssimonappeal.org or find our Facebook page.