Born just outside Egham, in Surry, around 30 kilometres west of London, Jill moved with her family to Berkshire, further west from London, at the age of five. She was the third child in the family, with a brother two years her senior and a much older sister who emigrated to New Zealand when Jill was just 12-years-old. The family was fortunate that although Jill’s father would never make a fortune working for TWA, an American airline, as its cargo sales manager, one significant perk of the job was free flights for the family.  Jill has a fond recollection of a round-the-world trip that saw a stopover to visit her elder sister. However, Jill revealed that she has limited recollection of a significant part of her childhood due to a biking accident which saw her hospitalised with a fractured skull at the age of six and impacted her memory of her life both prior to and after the injury. The one potent memory Jill has of primary school is of a teacher bullying her with a threat of not leaving the canteen until all her vegetables were eaten.  Today, Jill is particularly fond of her greens, her day starting well each morning with a homemade green juice of apple, kale, cucumber, ginger and turmeric that makes her feel virtuous, regardless of the occasional treat later in the day. Nutrition is a key factor in Jill’s life, as well as in the lives of her 770 kids.

Wait a minute, 770 kids? While it is true that Jill and Barry, now sadly departed, never had children of their own, Jill treats the children served by the Bright Dawn Foundation as if they were her own, the day before we spoke having taken 200 of them on excursion to a local water park and delighting all day in their squeals of merriment as they descended the slides and enjoyed all Black Mountain had to offer.

To understand exactly how Jill is so heavily involved in this endeavour, perhaps a return to her life in England will serve best.  While she was a commendable student, Jill couldn’t wait to leave school.  GSCEs completed, she enrolled in a local college to complete a vocational course in business and finance, rather unsure of the career path she wanted to follow.  Her first job was as accounts clerk in the head office of a large fashion retail chain where she worked in close contact with the firm’s accountants. This was the motivation for Jill to decide to pursue further study in accounting herself.  A committed life-long learner, Jill found a weekend cram course she could take in London, lectured by practicing accountants who could provide genuine insights into their daily experiences. Inspired by this hands-on approach, and always one to strike while the iron is hot, Jill managed to condense what would normally have taken four years of weekend study into two, to qualify as a Chartered Management Accountant. She intended to specialise in assisting struggling businesses to get on track to financial success.

It is ironic that Jill will tell you that “numbers are not my thing” and admits that her maths teacher from school would laugh out loud at the thought of her as an accountant. Yet that is exactly where Jill found considerable career success and by the age of 34 was running her own firm, JJ Consultancy, with a number of large clients including the Ministry of Defence.  Jill had always expected that success in the accountancy business would entail hard work and long hours, but was surprised to find that, in self-employment, she could structure her time to work only ten months of the year and enjoy considerable travel. One of those destinations was Hua Hin, which she first visited with on a golfing trip in 1993 with the man who eventually became her husband, though it wasn’t until 2004 that Jill and Barry made Hua Hin their home.

It didn’t take long for Hua Hin to work its particular magic on Jill. In what Jill now calls the “Hua Hin bungee effect”, she quickly began to feel a distinct sense of home in the local area, which came as a surprise as she had never even entertained the thought of living outside England.  When Jill finally moved permanently to Hua Hin, at the age of 43, she knew quickly that the couple had made the right decision.  It was a move they never regretted, Jill having always enjoyed the extended-family feeling that Hua Hin provides, with its friendly, smiling local inhabitants, Thai and foreigner. Jill did have a slight unease at the thought of her future, since work in Thailand is strictly regulated for foreigners, and 20 years ago the modern notion of remote work and digital nomadry was not even on the horizon. While golfing was a pleasant pastime, with Jill becoming Treasurer of the Hua Hin Golf Society, it was not enough for a woman who confesses to being much better at working than at relaxing.  The Golf Society held numerous charity events to raise funds for local worthy causes.  However, when Jill was approached with the idea of setting up a charitable Foundation, she jumped at the chance, because it meant being able to manage exactly where and how raised funds were directed, meaning that every baht could be put to its most efficient use. The idea that the Foundation’s impact could, and would, be measurable over time excited Jill enormously, so Bright Dawn came into existence in 2010.

A registered Thai charity, Bright Dawn’s mission is to enhance the lives of low-income Thai children by providing them with healthcare and educational support within their primary schools located in the Hua Hin area of Thailand. The various programs consistently yield positive outcomes and are designed to be highly cost-efficient, ensuring that over 93% of donations directly benefit the children and their teachers. The focus is in offering a hand up rather than a handout to these children. By empowering them with the necessary support and resources, Bright Dawn inspires them to thrive and create a brighter future for themselves. A visit to the photo gallery of the Bright Dawn website is a must for anyone wanting visual proof of the fantastic work being done, just along the Pala-u road.

While many people contribute to the Foundation’s success, as President, it is Jill who drives and directs the daily operations. She is a highly-skilled organiser who works with the teachers Bright Dawn employs to organise programs, she chairs meetings, audits the monthly accounts that are prepared for her, manages the relationships with the Foundation’s donors and keeps a solid eye on how well the Foundation is progressing towards its three-year-plan. Perhaps Jill’s greatest strength is in her ability to listen empathetically so she can then address people’s needs effectively. Jill has often received compliments about the accuracy of her work, but was particularly touched to hear from a Thai official of the Department of Education that the kids enrolled in the Bright Dawn schools were so different, that they were not afraid to interact with new adults in their school and certainly not afraid to ask questions. So, Jill has a full “work-life” although all her efforts receive zero financial recompense.

Jill seems to have an equally full personal life. She became carer for her husband during his protracted illness, and her golf clubs have remained ornamental for about seven years now though a return to play could be “on the cards”. Jill has also been pursuing her interest in natural health, priding herself in not needing to see a doctor in 15 years, since she takes good care of, and listens to her body. Jill has taken courses in natural remedies, Chinese herbal medicine and more recently energy healing and believes that current medical practice focuses too heavily on “sick care” rather than “health care”. 

Having lost her father when he was just 60 and full of retirement plans that he never lived to fulfill, Jill faces her future with a “never hold back” attitude she wishes she had developed even younger.  Luna, Jill’s constant canine companion and holder of a K9 Good Citizen award, has been the first dog Jill has had on her own, and is a very welcome face and wagging tail in their shared home.  Jill is a pragmatist who restructured her life after losing her husband, and now lives in a more streamlined home, without clutter or too many heirlooms.  In the event of a fire, Luna is the only thing Jill would rush to retrieve, everything else being stored in the cloud, or replaceable.

There are not many items on Jill’s bucket list.  At the very top is the prospect of a trip to Iceland, staying in a hotel with a glass ceiling, to enjoy the Northern Lights. Jill is not sure whether she will ever fulfill this wish though as she really doesn’t like the cold.  In future, Jill would like to see the improvement of education and health worldwide with a greater public understanding of the role of nutrition in health.  Jill is not a foodie in the classic sense as she views eating as nourishing her body rather than a joy, though she does count dark chocolate as a guilty pleasure. 

Generally, Jill eschews social media in her personal life, labelling it as an intrusion with few benefits beyond her ability to follow a number of wellness gurus she admires. Of course, the Bright Dawn Foundation uses social media platforms to keep the public informed of its programs, with regular newsletters and updates on its comprehensive annual reports. Jill admits regretfully that now she can’t live without the internet, which has found its way into her life, welcome or not.

Overall, Jill is most grateful that Barry brought her to Thailand as it was the pivotal event which changed her view on her whole life, and has brought her immense personal satisfaction. Every morning when she wakes, opens the curtains and looks at the sky, Jill is reminded that she is in exactly the right place, Hua Hin her favourite place in the world, and her home her sanctuary from the few niggles she has, such as people’s poor driving skills or the unnecessary use of plastics in food packaging she encounters everywhere in Thailand. These are tiny though, and detract only minimally from Jill’s enjoyment of her life. With Luna by her side, the sun in the sky and immersed in the beauty of the natural world, Jill is in her element.