<p><strong>The woman</strong><br />In 1991 Josie, her husband and their children set off on a journey to South America. The plan was to spend a year in Peru, while the children learned Spanish. While she was there, she wanted to see how the children in this poor region lived. Back in England the family raised money to send to the families but for Josie it wasn't enough and eventually a solution came to her: to return to Lima, rent the ground floor of the house where they'd been staying and open a nursery. The family returned and opened a nursery for 15 children.</p><p><strong>Her fight: « Hand in Hand Trust »</strong><br />The Hand in Hand Trust currently runs five purpose-built nurseries, three in Lima and two in a more isolated area of the Andes which feed, care for and provide early education for up to 250 pre-school children at any one time. The alternative for these children, aged from just a few months to six years, is to be left alone for up to 10 hours a day while their mothers go out to work to keep the family from starving.</p><p><strong>What about now?</strong><br />Today, the charity she started with just £10 cares for 250 children every day, in one of five purpose-built nurseries and provides them with stimulation, education, fun and three nutritionally balanced meals. Josie now divides her time between Peru and her home in Telford and when in the UK, never stops fundraising for her charity, speaking at Rotary, WI or church events to drum up sponsorship.</p>
