people and environment

support for local projects

As part of our commitment to the local communities we interact with during our challenges, we donate approx US$500 per group to a local community project. Examples of the projects we are funding include the following:

Vietnam: SOS Children’s Villages began nearly fourty years ago in Ho Chi Minh City. Some families are so poor that they cannot look after their children so they end up living on the streets, begging for money and food or are sent out to work. Government figures suggest there are over 21,000 children living on the streets in Vietnam. SOS Children’s Villages care for over 16,000 children in Vietnam and have twelve SOS children’s Villages and 31 related projects throughout Vietnam. Our support helps to fund the ongoing work of the charity.

Nepal: Many people in Nepal live in extreme poverty with nearly 40% of the population earning less than US$1 per day. One in thirteen children die before reaching the age of five, and over a quarter of children do not go to primary school. One of the projects we have helped to fund through Plan International is supporting girls who are forced into working as domestic servants by their family’s desperate poverty.

Plan is helping them to return to their families and continue their education. Nearly 1,000 girls have been rescued and are now receiving an education with help from Plan.

local community support

We employ local guides, porters and other essential support staff and we try, where possible, to use locally owned accommodation. This way, local challenge costs can truly benefit the local community. We train our overseas support teams thoroughly in all aspects of our responsible tourism policy.

sustainable development

A leading UK government body responsible for sustainable development recently commended Charity Challenge for its thorough and committed understanding of all aspects of sustainable development. It added: “It is clear that sustainable development is at the heart of the business. In this rapidly expanding market, it represents outstanding performance and is an example to others.”