Our Project funds
The charity has a GENERAL FUND, which is not project-specific and in addition, we have 3 ‘ring-fenced’ funds:
NUTRITION, SEWING and BOB MAIDMENT EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT.
This arrangement not only enables flexibility and targeted use of funds but also provides donors with the choice of how their contribution is used.
To ensure donations are properly directed, please reference all payments clearly.
Details of these restricted funds may be found below.
Please note: unless specified otherwise, donations will normally go to General Fund to be used at the discretion of the Trustees.
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PROJECT FUNDING: HOW IT WORKS
For those unaware of the system: all Support Cambodia projects have to be applied for in writing with full costing, timescale and [where appropriate], responsibility for onward maintenance.
The Trustees then decide which projects the charity will fund, based on the following criteria:
- Location: within 50 miles of Battambang, remote rural villages in Pailin Province and the Taom area outside Siem Reap.
- Essential needs: priority for the poorest
- Value for money – ‘small money, big difference’
- Places receiving little or no other NGO help.
However, since British charity law states that funds given for a particular project must be spent on that project, a problem can arise if the target is exceeded.
What do we do with the excess?
In the event of surplus funds being raised or given for a particular purpose, the Trustees reserve the right to allocate the excess as they see fit.
THE FUNDS: WHAT ARE THEY FOR?
The NUTRITION Fund provides essential feeding programmes. This includes Rice Soup, Formula [Baby] Milk for under 2’s and Emergency Food Packs when the need arises, as during the Covid-19 pandemic.
BOB MAIDMENT EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT. This fund provides:
- Vocational Training gives young people from very poor families access to training, entrepreneurship and business skills – an opportunity they would otherwise be unable to afford. The course is for two years and the students are carefully selected to take full advantage of the scheme.
- Practical Support for families of Grades 6 – 12 students in an effort to keep them in school rather than having to go out to work to support the family. This costs $300 [about £250] a year/per family and is given in the form of rice, toiletries, food ingredients and school supplies on a rotating monthly basis. Currently Support Cambodia is helping 10 students in this way in Pailin Province.
- Bikes for rural children to get to school. Many of the poorest families in Cambodia live in remote rural areas where although there are local Primary Schools, Secondary and High Schools are few and far between. No public transport means a long walk down dirt roads which are often impassable in the wet season.
This severely restricts access to education beyond the most basic level and prevents young people achieving the educational standards they need. BICYCLES are the key! but many families simply can’t afford a good bike [cheap bikes don’t last]. A decent bike costs around £50 and will be used not just by the student but by family members too! NO BIKE..NO EDUCATION…NO FUTURE…….
- Health Education: Filipino missionary Betty Millena runs women’s groups in the rural villages around Siem Reap, principally Peak Snaeng Chas. Funding covers basic toiletries, and sometimes, underwear. We also support a Primary School Dental Programme in Rohal, near Svay Sisophon.
- Other education-related requests are considered on an individual basis but include requests for classroom supplies [eg: library books], playground facilities and sports equipment.
SEWING
This covers the SEWING CENTRE in Pailin and the DRESSMAKING GROUP in Siem Reap.
The Sewing Centre was set up in May 2022 giving the opportunity for local women and girls to learn a sustainable skill that will earn them money.
The Centre is housed in the crypt under Sacred Heart Catholic Church just outside Pailin City, a few miles from the Thai border. The space has been converted into a workshop and training area. Skills covered include the making of school uniform, bags, blouses, T-shirts and Khmer dress with a view to selling locally and eventually making the Centre self-supporting.
Garment-making, along with tourism, is Cambodia’s main industry with a wide range of employment opportunities available for skilled workers and so for rural women, this initiative could be life-changing.
Support Cambodia funded the entire setting up of the Centre and are committed to supporting it financially until 2025.
The Dressmaking Group in Siem Reap is rather different. Run by Fillipino missionary Betty Millena, this is a group of women who wish to learn dressmaking skills in order to work from home to supplement the family income. Unlike the Pailin centre, this is not a commercial operation but much more of a community initiative, enabling the women to provide a welcome service for local people while at the same time earning a little money themselves.
When the group started in early 2023 [not funded by our charity] none of the women had any sewing skills. They’ve come a very long way in two years but as they’re not very experienced, they still need a sewing teacher so SUPPORT CAMBODIA now fund the teacher’s salary as well as providing sewing supplies for the group.
