Broxtowe Women’s Project helps women living in the Borough of Broxtowe who are experiencing domestic abuse. They provide a confidential helpline, outreach service, training courses and drop-in sessions, all aimed at empowering women and to help them survive domestic abuse. In November 2019 the IFA sponsored £1,500 towards their care programme and provided an aromatherapy taster day to incorporate aromatherapy as part of their care package. The IFA attended a ‘Befrienders’ meeting providing treatments using simple techniques e.g., hand massages and Aromacare to provide relaxation to support groups participants and taught about how to use scents for emotional and mental benefit.   

The Santa Clara Foundation in Chile shelters HIV positive children from deprived backgrounds. Because of their condition many have been treated as outcasts and reduced to living on the streets. They come to the shelter presenting with high levels of aggressiveness, low self-esteem, irritability, anxiety and sleep disturbances. The core group who live on the premises are children between 1 and 14 years old, who have either been orphaned or abandoned by parents with advanced AIDS and were incapable of looking after them. At the IFA’s Singapore conference, we delivered a two hour workshop to bring more recognition to the foundation and raised £1,500.00, which was used to improve the sanitary facilities at the shelter. We are pleased to have worked alongside Lady Sarah Ferguson who also actively supports and promotes the Santa Clara Foundation. In addition, we sent aromatherapy oils for our therapists to massage the children, with treatments being carried out through two hour twice-weekly visits.

The Qui Zhi Primary School in Shanghai, China is a volunteer ​led institute for orphans of disasters living in the mountain areas of Shanghai. In 2015 the IFA collected, over its 2-day conference, 22000.00 RMB (£2472.30) for the school, to help towards coal and supply blankets for the up and coming winter months together with educational materials, books, dictionaries, pens and writing tools to further their educational facilities. Alan Howell’s company Shechina - also gave clothes and suntan screen, as the children live so high up in the mountain their skin is affected by UV rays. Our CEO, Pauline Allen educated the teachers about essential oils that would help their skin and assist the children in overcoming transitional feelings of anxiety and physical discomforts. When the cheque was presented to the headmaster at the end of the IFA China Conference, a group of children from the orphanage took to the stage and sang. The children loved the teddy bears that they received from the IFA and the school expressed their thanks with a banner and scarves they had made. A truly wonderful end to an IFA conference that brought home the value of our work.

Juan Paillamilla was a young, enterprising and hard-working Mapuche Indian, who lived in Villarrica, South of Chile. He had started an indigenous aromatherapy project that would hopefully help him and his family and community find new sources of income. He had also raised awareness of his people’s traditional herbal medicinal knowledge in his country and abroad. Juan approached Sylvia Galleguillos, regarding studying the IFA certified course that she ran in Chile and asked whether the fees could be waived, as he could not possibly afford them. Sylvia decided that Juan was a worthwhile and genuine case to take on but unfortunately could not afford his travel expenses. The IFA sponsored Juan’s travel and accommodation expenses so that he could further his education and improve his community with his newly gained knowledge of essential oils. He has since written to us and now has his own distillation farm.