The Charities

The charities listed below are part of an ever-expanding list that will eventually span the globe as more Treks continue to pop up on every continent. Each trek raises money for its own independent regional charities. We pride ourselves on locating effective charities, but are always on the lookout for a few more that are truly making a difference.

If you have any ideas, please contact us and let us know. Just remember, each one has to coincide with the region of the Trek and must work to better the lives of children. We are always happy to help fund cash-strapped organizations that have been founded by people just like you and us. 

Coaching for Hope (Skillshare International) is an innovative programme that uses football to empower young people in developing countries. Coaching for Hope taps into the universal passion for the game by training groups of local coaches in basic football coaching skills.

Allied to this, our unique accredited curriculum offers modules on HIV prevention and substance misuse which are then incorporated into training sessions with youth teams, community groups, youth leagues and tournaments.

For more information please see the website www.coachingforhope.org.

PLAY SOCCER is a grassroots educational program that unites children, youth and communities to promote development through sport. Soccer provides the foundation for the program and acts as a catalyst for children’s development and for the wider community. The non-profit recreational program weaves physical, health and social skills into a fun activity- based curriculum that is free and open to all.

All year-round, PLAY SOCCER provides young girls and boys, aged 5-15, with access to skills they need to lead healthy, productive lives. Local youth/young adults are trained as volunteer instructors for the PLAY SOCCER program, providing leadership and skills to be reinvested in their communities.

In 2009, PLAY SOCCER reached out to over 14 000 underprivileged children in South Africa, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, Zambia and Cameroon.

Kick4Life uses the power of football to transform the lives of some of the most disadvantaged children in the world. Working in Lesotho, southern Africa, we delliver a range of programmes that provide sports-based health/HIV education, voluntary testing, life-skills development and support into education and employment. Lesotho has the third highest HIV prevalence in the world and hundreds of thousands of children have been orphaned by the disease. In 2008 Fabio Capello visited a Kick4Life Test Your Team event and observed a young boy being tested for HIV. The England coach described it as one of the most emotional moments of his life and called on the world of football to do more in the fight against HIV. To find out more about our work visit www.kick4life.org

Founded by former professional soccer players in 2002, Grassroot Soccer (GRS) trains African soccer stars, coaches, teachers, and peer educators in the world's most HIV-affected countries to deliver an interactive HIV prevention and life skills curriculum to youth. 

Translating research into action and leveraging the excitement around the 2010 World Cup, GRS attracts and engages young people through schools, community outreach, and social multimedia (e.g. magazines and TV). 

GRS has educated more than 270,000 kids via its 'Skillz' curriculum, and is a leader in the sport for development movement. (www.grassrootsoccer.org)

M'Lop Tapang initially started in January 2003 to help several homeless children on Ocheutel beach in Sihanoukville who were seeking refuge under a large Tapang tree.

Its mission is to reintegrate street-living and street-working children in the Sihanoukville area into both their families and their homes and to ultimately help this next generation to become responsible educated adults and eventually loving parents.

In addition to providing protection from all forms of abuses -physical, sexual, emotional- the organization also provides nutritious meals, medical care, support, mentoring, education, counseling and assistance to drug addicted children in their "safe environment" centers.

M'Lop Tapang is based out of Sihanoukville but operates a strong community outreach program giving them better access to children and their families in the outlying slums and streets around the city.

Mith Samnlanh was established in 1994 as a non-religious association working with street children in Phnom Penh. The NGO was established in response to the needs of the street children, including their families and their community.

The goal of Mith Samlanh and its projects is to help the children's social reintegration into their families, the public school system, the workplace and their culture. The hope is that these children will become independent and productive members of their communities.

Mith Samlanh is currently engaged in their "Friends, Building, Futures" land campaign to raise US$3 million to save their brightly painted center in the heart of Phnom Penh which serves as the core base for the organization providing shelter, food, medical care, training and educational facilities for over 1,800 homeless or abandoned children each day. The center also houses the educational center, vocational center, the internationally acclaimed "Friends the Restaurant" and is the epicenter for their outreach programs.