Mango Autumn 2026

What an extraordinary summer…in so many ways! Quite apart from the relentless “Cambodian-style” weather, it’s been the busiest [and most lucrative] August since before COVID-19. And a unique opportunity for the newly-formed SUPPORT CAMBODIA BOARD [see picture above] to meet in person. Following the charity’s recent decision to concentrate mainly on Education, a month-long fundraising campaign, “Women and Girls in Education” launched on August 1^st with a hugely successful Table Top in Aylsham. 

Scorching weather and our full range of Cambodian crafts together with a big footfall  brought in an amazing £522 to start us off. The next day saw the arrival in the UK of our great friend and Associate Board Member, Dr Nhor Chamrom who was actually in Europe for a well-deserved holiday but generously donated  a few days of it to visit us in North Norfolk. As regular readers of Mango will know, Dr Chamrom is a recognised role model for many young Cambodian women and the inspiration behind our ‘Women & Girls in Education’ Campaign. Click here for more [link to Student Stories] and scroll down for “Chamrom’s Story” – an inspirational account of vision, determination and perseverance. 

So, having enjoyed great Khmer hospitality in Battambang earlier in the year, on the weekend of August 8^th it was wonderful to be able to reciprocate and give so many of our SUPPORTERS the opportunity to meet the Doctor in person at a private event in Wickmere. Although not intended as a fundraiser, a thoroughly enjoyable social occasion turned into exactly that, adding another £200 to nearly £2,500 of individual donations plus £301 from a very successful  fundraiser on Facebook. Indeed, the number and diversity of the donations has been a big feature of this Campaign … and the fact that, like ‘Topsy’, it’s kept on growing! So the final total is a whopping £3463 for the Bob Maidment Educational Support Fund, a significant proportion of which will also be Gift Aided.

And more good news….This brilliant total, which exceeded our original target by over 70%, has in effect, been more than match-funded by an extremely  generous grant from the Marist Fathers [Society of Mary] to be used specifically for girls education over the next two years. This is not the first time the Marist Fathers have put their faith in us to use significant funds wisely and accountably: all at SUPPORT CAMBODIA offer our heartfelt thanks to the Fathers, both for the award and their confidence in our charity.  

WHAT WILL THE FUNDING MEAN FOR OUR STUDENTS?

It will mean that SUPPORT CAMBODIA will be able to offer funding to significantly more students wishing  to start a two year vocational course but lacking the financial backing to do it. Having concentrated up to now on funding mostly boys, we intend that most [but not all] of ‘our’ students 2026-28 will be girls. And, of course, nothing has been taken in costs out of that huge total so every penny of your ‘small’ [and not so small] money WILL make a ‘big difference’. As always, ‘thank you’ is a completely inadequate word but on behalf of the SUPPORT CAMBODIA BOARD and all the students who will benefit over the next two years, ‘thank you, thank you, thank you’. The Campaign is now closed.

For details of the “Women & Girls in Education” campaign, please click here.

STOP PRESS….STOP PRESS….STOP PRESS….STOP PRESS….
SUPPORT CAMBODIA SPONSORED STUDENTS  2026/7
The SUPPORT CAMBODIA BOARD are pleased to announce that to date, the following students have been selected to receive sponsorship from the
Bob Maidment Educational Support Fund:
Keo Srey Orn [24]: 2^nd year Catering at Teuk Thla Hotel School, Phnom Penh
Yeng Sammadi [22]: 2^nd year Electrical Engineering, Battambang Institute
Seng Daly [18]: 1^st year Business Studies, National University, Battambang
Chem Sodina [Dena] 18] 1^st year AgriFood Systems, National University, Battambang
Phoeurt Sokroeun [25]; 3^rd year Khmer Literature, National University, Battambang
We hope to add to this list shortly.
And our continuing students taking EFL courses in Siem Reap and Battambang:
Kruy Pisey, Sok Brathna, Sean Mao, Boun Nakry, Nich Nich

CHAMROM’S STORY

This is Chamrom’s story in her own words:

“My name is Chamrom. I am 34 years old, from Rohal Village, between Siem Reap and Svay Sisophon in Cambodia. It’s a big village but very poor. People in the village grow rice, keep cows and grow vegetables. I have three sisters one of whom is my twin and two brothers. When I was 6, my father died after a four-year illness. My mother just worked at home or went to the rice field. She didn’t travel and couldn’t really understand why anyone would want to leave the village. I went to Rohal Primary School. When I was 12 I decided I wanted a different life, to go to university and have a good job. This was my dream … but how to do it? We had no money, only what came from selling vegetables.

At that time, primary education in Cambodia was not very good so I decided I needed extra classes to achieve my dream but how to pay for them? I had daily chores at home: caring for the cow, working in the rice field, cleaning the house, all for free but I did many other jobs to earn money for extra classes in Khmer, Maths and English. I sold the food meant for my lunch to other students, just to earn money and I even washed my brother’s clothes to earn an extra $5! When I got to grade 8, about 14 years old, my mother said, “you will leave school and go to Thailand and work to help the family”. I said “No, I want to study and continue with my classes.” I had no money for books or a bike to get to school so I shared with my friend. For three years I had only one set of uniform which I washed every night. And still my mother tried to force me to leave school. It was really hard to say no to my mother.

By age 16, I was in High School, leaving home at 5.30am to be in school by 6am. Twelve hours later I was home, still with chores to do before going out at night to earn money by catching grasshoppers (see photo above left) to sell at the market. This was really dangerous because normally it was only boys who did this: anything could have happened to me…. But then everything changed….”

Click HERE to read the rest of Chamrom’s extraordinary story. 

MEET THE TEAM

2. Ms Theara Kao

Katie Maidment writes: Theara is a crucial member of our team. All monies going out to Cambodia from our charity are kept in a ring-fenced sub- account within the main Prefecture bank account. Theara then distributes funding to our various contacts under the direction of our Treasurer, David Pattrick. Without Theara’s knowledge, contacts and unfailing reliability, disbursement of SUPPORT CAMBODIA funds would be much less secure and infinitely more complicated. Thank you, Theara, for all that you do to “Support Cambodia”.  

STUDENT STORY

2. Yeng Sammady

“My name is Yeng Sammady, from Pahitong Village, Pailin City and I’ve just completed my first year studying at the Battambang Institute. I have two brothers and five sisters and my parents are farmers. I chose to study electrical engineering because I enjoy it. My goal after graduation is to become a home electrician.”

Sammady is resident at the Tep Im Student Centre in Battambang run by the Catholic Prefecture and SUPPORT CAMBODIA are supporting the cost of his accommodation and school materials. We wish him all the best for his second year.

FROM THE SUPPORT CAMBODIA BOARD

Associate Board Members

As was announced at the AGM, the position of Associate Member has been introduced. Associates work alongside the legally appointed Trustees using their specific skills [e.g. media, networking, management etc.] to support the essential day-to-day running of the charity and generally promote the charity whenever they can.  Associates are not Trustees so have no vote or legal obligations, no extra duties on top of what they already do and are not paid for being an Associate. 

Our first Associate, Mrs Sonia Warder, was appointed in April this year and in July we were delighted to welcome two more: Dr Nhor Chamrom and Mrs Fran Ludden, pictured being presented with their specially designed Associate kromas [scarves]. Their combined experience and specialist skills will be a great asset to the charity – thank you and welcome to all three. To include the contribution of Associates, the management of the charity [previously SUPPORT CAMBODIA Trustees] will now be known as the SUPPORT CAMBODIA BOARD to include both official Trustees and Associate Members.

Standing Orders

Our Treasurer, David Pattrick writes: “We now have 16 SUPPORTERS contributing regularly to the charity via Standing Order. This is a truly wonderful commitment to the charity and is the backbone to our yearly fundraising guaranteeing some 10% of our income- a guarantee that is then wonderfully supported by various other fund raising efforts throughout the year. Every single pound is valuable and has a purchasing power in Cambodia far and above anything that one might imagine from having familiarity with our own UK economy. Thank you to all of you.”

We’ve updated our website!

Following the recent change of focus to ‘Education’, our website has been updated to reflect this with lots of  information and improved pictures. Do take a look by clicking here!

Charity Commission News

Until recently the Charity Commission had a ‘somewhat artificially imposed’ financial barrier on ultra small charities not to exceed £25,000 in yearly fund raising.  Exceed this threshold and a charity was then subject to full financial accounting with the time, hassle and most importantly costs, associated with just a slightly larger yearly income. As SUPPORT CAMBODIA has recently and historically raised close to the £25,000 level we have been ever mindful of not exceeding that sum. However, finally the Charity Commission (possibly acknowledging the impact of inflation) has raised the threshold to £40,000 – hurrah! Not that we are asking anyone for a big donation but if you feel so inclined……!!

Administration Sponsors

Like SUPPORT CAMBODIA, CVF started very small but now, with many more on the management team [some of whom are paid] and an annual turnover many times that of our charity, they are in a completely different league. However, both organisations share the same passion and commitment to transforming the lives of young people in Cambodia….and both, in their own way, pack a considerable punch. Informal connections to like-minded NGO’s [non-government organisations] such as CVF and others [e.g. Cambodia Rural Students Trust) are so valuable to our work. Given our current focus on Education, CVF’s Scholarship Programme is of particular interest (click here to learn more) – and going forward we hope to develop more informal links like this.

Talks

For the first time ever, we have no Talk bookings in the Diary! Since reducing the number of ‘live’ events [e.g. sales, coffee mornings etc.], engaging with people about the history and culture of Cambodia and publicising SUPPORT CAMBODIA’s work has become even more important. So, something needs to be done. We talk to any size group: WI’s, lunch clubs, U3A’s, social and church groups, schools. We offer a choice of three illustrated talks, all about 45 minutes long [can be tailored to requirements] and optional sales of Cambodian Crafts. We don’t charge a set fee but instead, request a donation to SUPPORT CAMBODIA. Club Secretaries will already be booking 2027/8 speakers – please encourage YOUR club or organisation to consider booking a talk with us – this really matters!!

Full details of what we offer can be found here.

EVENTS

• Saturday 21^st November: Stall at Big C’s Festive Fair, Norwich City Cancer Support Centre, 10am – 4pm. Assorted seasonal gifts, tea & coffee and a chance to visit this amazing centre which does such wonderful work. Learn more about Big C here.
• Friday 27^th November: Stall at Aylsham Town Hall [Lights Switch-On] at 5pm. Fran Ludden will be selling her traditional selection of hand-crafted, affordable Christmas items  – definitely not to be missed.
• Saturday 28^th November: Stall at Sacred Heart Hall, North Walsham, 9am – 2pm. Cambodia-themed stocking fillers, end-of-line items and SUPPORT CAMBODIA preserves – all under £5.00.

PROCEEDS FROM ALL THESE EVENTS will probably go to provide a ‘SEASONAL TREAT’ for STUDENTS – details to follow shortly on the DIARY page.

THANK YOU….