🏔️ Two Friends: Vaish & Helen. One Mountain. A Mission to Empower Women.

We're raising £1,000 to contribute towards the goal of raising £20,000 to build Ma Learning Institute and empower women in rural Bangladesh. Thanks for taking the time to visit this Just Giving page.

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Story

This Saturday, 22 August, school friends Vaishali (Vaish) Sheth and Helen Ellis are taking on Mount Snowdon — raising vital funds for Ma Learning Institute and the women and girls whose futures it hopes to transform.

They have known each other since their school days. Now, years later, they are climbing a mountain together for women who have had far fewer opportunities to learn, earn and determine their own futures.

Why Vaish is climbing

Vaish is an NHS Social Prescriber and Kitchen Lead at Organiclea. Her work is rooted in community, wellbeing and helping people live healthier, more empowered lives. She is taking on this challenge because of her desire to support disadvantaged women to learn, develop skills and feel empowered in their own lives.

Alongside her will be her lovely friend Helen Ellis, an Assistant Headteacher at a SEND school, who shares that commitment to creating opportunities for others. Together, they will be climbing Mount Snowdon on Saturday 22 August in support of something much bigger than the mountain itself.

🌱 What are they climbing for?

Ma Learning Institute is being built to create opportunities for women and girls living in rural Bangladesh.

For many women in these communities, access to education, skills and sustainable employment is extremely limited. Poverty can become a cycle that is incredibly difficult to escape.

We want to help change that.

The vision is to create a vocational learning institute where women can develop practical and income-generating skills including sewing, agriculture, crafting, gardening and other vocational skills — helping them move towards financial independence and greater choice over their futures.

In 2025, supporters helped us raise funds to build the Institute's boundary walls, raise the grounds and expand our existing sewing classes. Now we need your help to build the Institute itself.

💛 Sponsor Vaish & Helen's climb

Every step they take up Snowdon represents the opportunities we want women at Ma Learning Institute to have:

The opportunity to learn.

The opportunity to earn.

The confidence to make choices.

And the chance to build a different future.

Whether you can give £10, £25, £50, £100 or more, every donation takes us another step towards opening the doors of Ma Learning Institute.

And if you can't donate, please share this page and help Vaish and Helen take this story even further.

On Saturday, two friends will climb a mountain. Together, we can help women overcome mountains of their own.

Thank you for believing in this vision and for being part of the journey. ❤️

Women in the UK are privileged to have an education and employment opportunities that many women in Bangladesh can only dream of. We are raising money to build a vocational Institute that will transform the lives of women in rural Bangladesh, with education, skills, and the chance to break free from poverty with dignity and independence.

In 2025 we raised £5,000 to build the boundary walls of the Institute, raise the grounds and expand our current Sewing Classes. We now need to raise £25,000 to start building a Learning Institute in Bangladesh for women living in challenging circumstances.

We are asking you to donate as much as you can towards a cause that will impact the lives of hundreds of marginalised women living in poverty.

The Institute will become an anchor for women from disadvantaged backgrounds to learn skills in agriculture, sewing, crafting, gardening and midwifery to enable them to become financially independent.

Why? Because women living in rural areas of Bangladesh have little opportunity for education and learning, and very limited employment prospects. For the vast majority, working in garment factories or in people's houses as housemaids are their only options. The average monthly income is 5,000 - 8,000 taka, equating to between £30 - £50. Meanwhile, household outgoings could be as high as 8,000 - 10,000 taka for single parent households. When those households are managed by women with no support from male family members, making ends meet can be an uphill struggle. Many women end up in a vicious cycle of poverty, fighting to survive. Your support will be life changing. Thank you for being a part of this journey.