AN INTERNATIONAL children's charity based in Wimborne has returned from a trip supporting people in Tanzania - and the organisation's trips for 2018 are already fully booked.

Adventure Aid UK, which is managed by founder Ashley Platen-Mills, continued their growing mission to deliver projects all around the world, taking groups of people from the United Kingdom to see exactly how the money they raise is being used.

Last month, Ashley took a group to Tanzania, to give out clothes to children and help paint a local school - which the charity had previously funded to build - before concluding the visit by experiencing what the country had to offer.

The eight day trip, required participants to give a minimum of £1600, which after flights and expenses was all used on the project the group were part of.

"We took 200kg of clothes and handed them out across two days - giving them to local children," Ashley said.

"All of the people on the trip found it quite emotional. What they find from the experience is what is given out is never enough.

"After we painted the school, we gave them some school bags and when it was officially opened they presented me with a goat. Unfortunately I couldn't bring it back to the UK, so I left it with a local tribesman, who I met on a previous trip, to look after."

Unlike many national charities, Adventure Aid has no overheads so all the money donated to the organisation goes directly into the work they do, other than funding travel and accommodation for projects.

The charity started in 2010 and has fundraised for seven countries, including Nepal, India and Mauritius.

With every project that takes place, the demand to be part of the Adventure Aid experience grows.

"After each trip roughly 50 percent of the group will want to go on another trip, so I have to find other places we can go on projects and sort out whether it is appropriate and logistically viable," Ashley added.

"All our trips for next year are fully booked and we are already looking for people for 2019 projects.

"A lot of people get put off by giving to big charities, where as with this we give people the opportunity to go and see where the money goes.

"It's not just about the people we help. The people who travel get a lot from it as well - they get to see the real country and the real people. This is what having an adventure is all about."

For more details about the work of Adventure Aid and the charity's projects visit adventureaid.org.uk.