A recruitment consultant from Nottingham based firm, Macildowie, has given up the holiday of a lifetime to New York, to volunteer at a Romanian orphanage.
Louise Carling, 30, from West Bridgford, won a trip to the USA as a work incentive after achieving top results in her first nine months at the company. But she gave up the chance of the ‘Big Apple’ experience in favour of helping others.
Little John's House, in the Sibiu County of Romania provides residence for abandoned children with special needs and currently houses six youngsters permanently.
In the summer months, the staff runs a 'Summer School' where hundreds of children from hospitals and other orphanages visit the house for a fun week of activities, such as music and dance therapy, painting (paper and faces), ball games and more.
“I cried every day for different reasons but couldn’t have chosen a better way to spend a week. The children and team were amazing,” said Louise. “I’m really pleased I took this opportunity.”
“What many people perceive to be a challenge, really pales into insignificance when compared with what these children have to face every day. It was a life-changing experience for me, seeing what the children have to go through, and foregoing simple things we take for granted, such as running hot water.”
James Calder, chief executive of Macildowie explained: “Louise has been a great addition to our HR and Training recruitment team, she has worked extremely hard and achieved impressive results. As a reward for her efforts, we were happy to pack her off to enjoy the sights and sounds of New York, but she
chose Romania, instead.”
“Our incentive scheme is a great motivator for staff, so we continue to run the New York incentive for all new starters at Macildowie. When Louise approached me asking if she could trade her flights and hotel, I was touched by her generosity and we were only too happy to accommodate her wishes.”
Louise has worked in the recruitment industry for over 10 years. For the previous 12 months she has been at Macildowie in Nottingham, helping both large and small companies to recruit temporary and permanent HR professionals.
For further information on Macildowie, which is a Times Top 5 (small) Company to work for, please visit www.macildowie.co.uk.