My chosen charity

The majority of my photographs were taken in Southern China, Vietnam and Cambodia and therefore I felt any charitable efforts should be directed towards one of these countries.

After much deliberation I decided upon Cambodia, based on it being the poorest and less developed of the three as well as the location of two of my favourite photographs.

The selection of a charity had to meet the following criteria:

• 1. Charity solving a basic human need today as opposed to some vague distant cure
• 2. Transparency of finances by knowing the percentage that goes directly to their cause
• 3. A small/medium sized charity

A number of my favourite photos had children as the main focus so this made choosing the right cause easier. The next question would be to decide on the best way of helping. Should I pay attention to their education, health or environment?

You can count on one hand the number of charities that have totally transparent finances and only a few that give 100% of donations to their cause. Choosing Charity Water was thus a simple decision.

Why water?

The most basic human need of staying alive can only be achieved with water. We can survive without food for approximately three weeks as many people on hunger strike have shown, most famously Gandhi, but only for a week or so without water.

We take for granted having access to clean water in the UK and cannot fathom the illness and disease that manifests from drinking dirty water. Safe water equals clean hands and healthy bodies.

The beauty of providing a community with healthy water is that other benefits accrue. Having fresh water helps toward the education and economic growth of a community as less time is spent collecting water from some far away source and more time is available for learning, growth and lifting themselves out of poverty.