WITH children from poverty-stricken countries around the world in need of help, people often turn to international charities with their donations.

And while large-scale NGOs, like Save the Children and World Vision, have been delivering aid for decades, a small charity in Wimborne has also been helping disadvantaged children in India, Nepal, Sumatra, Mauritius, and Tanzania.

Founder Ashley Platen-Mills single-handedly manages Adventure Aid, which was established in 2010. The charity takes groups of people to each country every year so they can visit the projects they have donated money to and see how it is being used.

“Not many people are aware that hidden in Wimborne is an international children’s charity - a charity which currently works to improve the lives of disadvantaged children in Nepal, India, Sumatra, Tanzania and Mauritius. A charity which people aged 11 to 80-years-old from across the UK, and even from Australia, have been getting involved in by visiting the projects as part of a team of people looking for adventure,” Ashley said.

He started Adventure Aid following a fundraising journey through 16 countries in 1995.

“I was disillusioned by business work, and life generally, so I disappeared in my Land Rover and set off on an adventure from Wimborne to Dushanbe in the Land of the Tajiks.

“When I came back, there was a void in my life, which is why I set up the charity so I could take people on these adventures and show them these regions and the real people who live there.

“They also get to see where their donation goes,” he continued. “Each trip costs a minimum £1,600 donation – all the money after flights and expenses goes to the project we’re working with.”

He said some people enjoy their trip so much that they book another one.

Among the projects Adventure Aid has helped fund are a new orphanage in India and educational resources for children at remote schools in the Helambu region of Nepal.

The charity also helps fund around 30 operations a year for children with cleft lip and palate in Sumatra.

Ashley said one of the most popular campaigns Adventure Aid has recently supported is bra donations to disadvantaged women in Tanzania.

“Wearing a bra helps reduce sexual assault for some African women so we have partnered with a charity in Iringa to distribute donated bras to women in the remote villages.

“The campaign went viral on Facebook, and we’ve collected thousands of bras from all over the world.”

He added: “This has also raised funds towards the building of a new Masai school in the region.”

The charity’s trips this year are already fully booked, but to find out more about the charity and the projects it supports visit adventureaid.org.uk.