Every Christmas at TruTravels we take on what we like to call a ‘Christmas Mission’ to have fun whilst giving back to a variety of charities that are close to our heart. This year our awesome TruCrew took part in some wild, wacky n’ crazy challenges over the Christmas period to help raise money for not one but five different charities across the U.K and Asia. We climbed volcanoes, took part in triathlons, shaved our heads, got tattoos on our butts and even ran half marathons to help make a difference to the world! We managed to raise a MASSIVE £5452 to help give back to the communities we love so much, so thank you for all of your donations!

Here is a little summary of what we did with all the money we raised.

 

INDO - GILI ECO TRUST

 

Our crew in Indonesia raised an AMAZING £3500 for the Gili Eco Trust, which is an organisation that helps keep the island plastic-free to preserve the natural beauty of the three Gili islands! Here is what they have spent the funds on so far.

The Gili Eco Trust joined forces with the Soraya Foundation, and also local legend Suparman to plant 2,000 trees in Gili Air, and 250 trees across Gili Trawangan! They planted a range of ketapang trees, flamboyant trees, as well as trembesi and sawosusu trees. With support from the island chief of Gili Air, each business on the beachfront donated 2-4 baby trees to take care of and then plant on the beachfront to protect Gili Air Island.

As we know, tree planting across the globe is super important as it provides oxygen, absorbs harmful co2 from the atmosphere, provides for hundreds of different types of species which results in increase biodiversity. Planting trees has a positive impact on local communities too as it provides jobs, such as sustainable tree farming, and provides timber to build homes, and also fruit and nuts etc. for people to eat!

 

 

The Gili Eco Trust has been able to boost the employment rate in the local area by employing 30 full-time local staff to help them in their mission to keep the Gili’s plastic-free. They have assisted separating all the recyclable waste collected from the island and moving over 15 tonnes of it over to Lombok every fortnight to be appropriately recycled! They have also finally been able to complete the first proper waste management facility on the island, which will make all their recycling and sorting efforts way more efficient, less time consuming and more productive. We can’t wait to see it up and running - good job guys!

 

THAILAND - PACS

 

The money that we managed to fundraise for PACs (Phangan Animal Care for Strays) has gone towards the running costs of the charity, food, medicine and equipment for animals such as dogs, cats and many more.

Many stray cats and dogs have severe skin conditions, infected wounds, minor injuries, and suffer badly from fleas and ticks, so being able to support PACS so they can help these animals means the world!

The donations also contributed towards the salaries of the local veterinarians who carry out this critical work to help all of the animals on Koh Phangan.

PACS rely 100% on donations, so any money that they receive helps support them and keeps all the animals on the island healthy and happy! Their mission is to provide a sanctuary for these animals until they are fostered and find their forever homes!!

 

CAMBODIA - CBAVC

 

We partnered with CBAVC (Cambodian Buddhism Association for Vulnerable Children) in Siem Reap Cambodia, who we have been working with for many years to help the local community have access to clean water.

 

With the money we raised from our Christmas Fundraiser, we were able to build two wells in Kanseang village of Chikreng District, with 12 more waiting to be built!! Most villagers don’t have access to clean water which is a basic necessity for everyday life, women and children have to walk over 3km to collect water which is often stagnant, dirty and contaminated. This often leads to many health problems for the local people in Cambodia and often causes dangerous diseases.

 

Our very own Tru Crew got involved in building one of the wells over Christmas 2019, which was a great opportunity to meet the charity out there and spread some festive cheer to the local community! One well supplies fresh clean water to around 50 people, so we really hope this will make such a difference to their daily lives!

 

 

SRI LANKA - ANIMAL SOS

 

Animal SOS in Sri Lanka provides a free-roaming sanctuary for animals that have been neglected or are sick and disabled across the island.

 

Our fundraising from the Tru Crew (Dean did a legendary back, crack and sack wax to raise money for them!!!) helped support the life-saving treatment and care they provide for many cats and dogs every day by their on-site veterinary nurses. They also do an incredible job carrying out crucial rabies and neutering programmes, adoption schemes and animal welfare education. As it is almost the rainy season, they don’t currently have enough shelters for the overwhelming amount of animals that need care, so our donation also helped provide tarpaulin and other supplies to create some makeshift shelters.

 

 

U.K - CENTRE POINT

 

Our Tru Crew managed to raise a whopping £1000 for Centrepoint, which is the UK’s leading charity to tackle homelessness across the country.

 

They have used the funds to help find bed spaces for as many young people as possible (over 110,000 people are affected by homelessness) to make sure they don’t have to spend a night living on the streets and help them rise out of poverty. It gives them stability and a space they can call their own.

 

Centrepoint also helps give people their independence and support, and teach them basic life skills, so they are able to get jobs successfully! The charity hosts a massive range of activities for them including sports sessions and cooking classes which they hope will get them to try things they’ve never done before, build their confidence and make them feel like part of a community. We hope this donation can help have a positive impact on many people’s future, help them rebuild their lives and achieve their dreams!

 

 

A huge shout out to everyone who has donated to our fundraisers! All your help and support means so much to us, and it is incredible how much positive impact our donations have made. With the current situation in the world, many charities are struggling to continue the fantastic work they do so we hope we can carry on supporting everyone any way we can. Much love x