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Amy is a complete travel-aholic and loves nothing better than to pack her rucksack and disappear for a couple of months, as she believes that travelling the world is the best source of inspiration.

On her travels, she has worked in a few voluntary placements, in Kenya and Nepal.

 Amy's first ever placement, teaching English to children who lived on the towns rubbish dump in Nakuru, Kenya, really made her think about the world, and the 'throwaway' culture in which we live, and in particular, consumers attitude to 'disposable' fashion.

• The Walk Children's Church is a registered not-for-profit charity committed to helping the children and families of the Hilton Slum area in Nakuru, Kenya. It aims to provide the children with the basic human right to education, regular meals and afford them with an alternative way of life - also giving their parents or guardians a skill to be able to self support their families to have a better life, different to that which they have unfortunately been accustomed to.

For more information, please look at http://www.thewalkcentre.org/index.htm

• Mission in Action Nakuru Baby Orphanage was set up by a dedicated family wanting to make a difference to people who are in some form of crisis with poverty, hunger or disease, and they have relocated from Australia indefinitely. Mission in Action (MIA) is situated on 10 acres on the outskirts of Nakuru, Rift Valley Province, Kenya in East Africa. MIA is registered by the Kenyan Government. As missionaries the family plans to provide to the needs of 30 to 40 orphan children within the ages of 0 to 4 years, who will then remain as members to the age of majority (18 years). They are currently raising funds to assist with many projects, such as building a local primary school.

For more information, please look at http://www.missioninaction.com.au

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•  New Life Disabled Centre, was set up by a Christian family in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Horrified by the Hindu attitude towards people with disabilities, Narayan Bhagat, together with his family, has set up this centre which provides a safe home for about 30 mentally and physically handicapped persons, both children and adults, and treats them as family. Where possible, the children go to a local school, adults have lessons in English, and everyone helps out with the cooking, cleaning and other general duties.  

On her return to England, Amy decided to continue sponsoring these projects and promised to use her creative talents to raise more money for the project. A proportion of the money from every Fairly Amy garment and accessory sold goes towards these charities, helping to improve the quality of life for many children.

Amy hopes to work with Narayan in the future to allow fair trade handicrafts made in his local area, to be sold in the UK.