To celebrate the International Day of the Girl we’re looking back over some of the important work done by members of our team when they volunteered in Sierra Leone as part of an initiative to help young women.

Earlier this year Lizzie Coultas, our Head of Healthcare Market Research, and Julie Fuller, our business founder, travelled to Sierra Leone to assist on a charitable project, organised by Teams4U. The objective of this initiative was to empower girls and young women by providing them with resources they need to succeed in life. This included basic items such as school resources, bras and sanitary products which, due to a lack of access, often prevent young women from staying in education.

The team were also involved with a local college, helping to refurbish classrooms to provide vocational training to young women and provide them with an income.

Hear about Lizzie’s experiences in the short video below

Beyond the voluntary work that Julie, Lizzie and the other volunteers did in Sierra Leone, we also raised funds of over £16,000 which went directly to the institutions we were working with in Sierra Leone. For this we would like to thank all of the generous donations we received, including The Research Club and all the individuals who helped with each of our fundraising activities.

International Day of the Girl is a United Nations initiative which seeks to highlight many of the unique challenges faced by girls and young women around the world. By working with Teams4U we have witnessed the reality of these struggles and welcome the broader awareness that today brings.

In just a few weeks some of the team from Acumen heading out to Sierra Leone to join the Teams4U, a charitable organisation that runs various initiatives around the world.

The team, led by Acumen founder Julie Fuller, will be working with Teams4U on their Develop with Dignity programme which seeks work with young girls and boys to assist them with simple interventions that will enable them to stay in school and continue with their education. Joining Julie will be Lizzie Coultas, Head of Healthcare, and Jade Bailey who’s one of the Senior Project Coordinators in Research Opinions – Acumen’s in-house recruitment team.

Part of the work that they will be doing in Sierra Leone will be providing girls with access to basic sanitary products which will enable them to continue with their education. Currently it’s estimated that on average girls lose up to 3 days per month due to menstruation due to a lack of access and the affordability of sanitary products.

The programme will also be working with boys to help support them by staying in school in a country which often sees children leaving education to find employment as a means of better supporting their families.

If you would like to contribute to the important work that Teams4U are doing in Sierra Leone then you can donate via our Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/julie-fullersierraleone2019

Or if you would like to donate to support Lizzie and Jade and their fundraising head over to https://www.gofundme.com/fuller-research-sierra-leone-trip/

Alternatively if you have items that you would like to donate, such as basic school supplies or other smaller items, please contact hannah.o.donoghue@fullerresearchgroup.com