My Story

I was born in a remote and poor part of Romania into a very poor family. When I was young I experienced hunger on a regular basis and I often had to rely on the charity of others for food. Neighbors would step in and the church would also intervene and give us extra rations of rice, flour and vegetable oil to get us through the tough times.

As a young child I worked various jobs for neighbors and got paid in food (milk, eggs, cheese, flour) but the winter months were the hardest impacting everyone in our community and, during those times, my sister and I would have to beg for food as well.

I cannot begin to describe the impact that this has had and how hard I had to work to overcome these circumstances.

So, it may come as no surprise that supporting young people denied opportunity to succeed is something that is close to my heart. 

EY Foundation is an independent charity committed to removing barriers to employment for young people from low-income background. 

Did you know that a young person in receipt of free school meals at 16 years of age is 3 times more likely to be unemployed at 27?

I cannot help but think how unfair this is - how the circumstances of one's birth can make life so much harder.

So, if you can, please donate to this cause. Your donations will be used to deliver programmes across the UK that support young people to successfully transition from school to higher education, employment or enterprise.

Education and work is the route that I took out of poverty and toward financial independence. I was lucky to have been supported by a hard working family, generous neighbors, proactive teachers, charitable organisations and countless other people who through either donations and various other actions have helped changed my life for the better.

So, if you can afford it, please be a beacon of hope and help give a young person a chance to change their future.