HVTO CONTACTS IN THE UK

HVTO in the UK

Sending donations from the UK is a costly and time consuming process either via bank or Western Union money transfer.

To address this issue we investigated the possibility of registering HVTO as a UK charity, but discovered that it's a very difficult. Instead we asked Mark Purser, of Camkids if he knew of an alternative way to collect and disperse contributions.

Camkids have been working with children in Cambodia and are registered in the UK (Charity registration no: 1116862). To our delight Mark suggested that Camkids would be willing to help HVTO.

Briefly put, all HVTO UK contributions and Paypal donations are made to HVTO via Camkids. These donations are allocated to a separate costs centre allocated to HVTO. This allows donation from most UK individual taxpayers to reclaim an additional 28% in Gift Aid from the UK Government. These accumulated funds are disbursed to HVTO, in USD from the CamKids Cambodian account, at the end of every calendar quarter.

Donating just became easier!

Our new relationship with Camkids allows anyone to make a small or large donation via cheque (UK only), online via JustGiving or credit & debit card internationally. Additionally, these funds can now be transferred to HVTO in Cambodia easily, which will save a great deal of everyone's time.

Thanks from Simon Johnson ~ UK HVTO supporter

Email: donations@hvto.org.uk

How I became involved with HVTO

I learned about HVTO when I and my wife, Ranjeeta, were planning to visit Cambodia on holiday. We knew of Cambodia's unfortunate past and wanted to make a contribution.

As we are drawn to smaller charities we asked a friend of ours in Cambodia if he knew of an organisation that needed assistance. He recommended HVTO as he felt the large charities were better equipped to fund raise, whereas organisations such as HVTO often go overlooked.

A few months before we departed from London we examined HVTO's accounts and saw that they needed just over $1,000 to complete that years' funding. We immediately set out to raise the amount with help from friends and family. After an outpouring of generosity from everyone we knew we had more than we needed.

I must admit, having no experience of Cambodia or with HVTO we had some unanswered question. We wanted to know if HVTO was a legitimate organisation? Were funds being used properly? How effective was their work in helping people? You might imagine our apprehension as we were about to hand over $1,000 of our friends' money to a stranger!

We needn't have feared. Once we met Sim (the Cambodians primarily use their surname), we felt immediately at ease. As the chief executive of HVTO he is the nicest person one could hope to meet. His conscientious attention to detail, personal integrity and relentless work ethic left an lasting impression on us. His skills are only matched by his humility.

He took us to his village where we were introduced us to his friends and family. We then visited two schools where we were delighted to be met with children with big smiles and a lot of laughter. Before we knew it, Sim had somehow manoeuvred us to the front of a class and informed all the children we would be teaching! My wife was a natural and didn't miss a beat by going through the alphabet and making everyone laugh.

I tried to help some of the children at the rear of the class when I realised that there wasn't enough light for them to be able to see properly. With no mains electricity and only a small fluorescent light many of the children were at a disadvantage. Nevertheless nobody complained, but were happy to attend. Sim informed us that children cycled up to 10km away just to attend the free English classes.

Although there are other organisations who are helping children in emergency situations, we feel that supporting HVTO, which we consider to be a grassroots organisation, is the most effective way to help build Cambodia's future. Children who receive an education will have an opportunity to help their families, community and country.