Saving the world’s endangered Elephants and Inspiring Female Role Models

This month our brand ambassador Holly Budge is heading to South Africa to film the Black Mambas; an all female anti poaching team. Holly aims to inspire and educate women globally by showing real life case studies of ordinary women who achieve extraordinary things in traditional male roles, and the Black Mambas, a courageous and determined anti-poaching all women team, are a great example of this

Few people know that 96 African elephants are poached each day for their ivory. At this astonishing rate they will be extinct in the wild by 2025. Holly is the founder of 'How Many Elephants', an award winning campaign which raises awareness of the plight of elephants in Africa and presents a physical commentary on the devastating impact of the elephant ivory trade. So far she has helped raise over £300k for a diverse range of charities through her adventures and charity work

Holly says: "I am very excited to immerse myself with the Black Mambas, the first all female front line anti-poaching team to intimately learn what drives and motivates these pioneering women to pursue their multifaceted roles as protectors, educators and beacons of hope. The Black Mambas' work takes them away from their young families for weeks at a time, challenging the traditional status quo. Armed only with pepper spray and handcuffs, these women patrol hunting grounds of armed poachers who pose an imminent threat to the elephant species. They also strive to change attitudes towards the role of women in Africa, and beyond. I have raised £5000 so far for the Black Mambas"

Arriving in South Africa on the 6th May Holly will be immersing herself with The Black Mambas for several weeks and is going to film these inspiring role models to show that you don't have to have elite qualities of physical or mental advantage to be a great role model

With her primary aim to make a feature length documentary as a solo camera woman, Holly has the backing of Face TV, a UK production company. As a public figure and role model herself, Holly aims to share the message to women around the world and encourage them to pursue their own journeys with purpose and show that with self belief, determination and resilience, even the biggest of challenged can be overcome