Our NEW Foundation Our World

As a registered charity, the Explore Foundation will be managed by an independent Board of Trustees, yet it benefits from Explore Worldwide’s huge community of overseas partners and contacts. Through this network the Foundation will identify and champion grassroots projects in countries that Explore customers visit all over the world, working to deliver support where it’s most needed.

Our mission is to improve the lives of communities worldwide, by supporting projects that target poverty reduction, increase access to education and healthcare, and promote conservation. Explore will make a donation to the Explore Foundation on behalf of every single customer that travels with us, allowing the Foundation to continue supporting projects that create a positive impact on people, places and the planet.

To launch the Explore Foundation our trustees have chosen to support an initiative that has been close to Explore’s heart for many years, Lone Buffalo in Laos. Here’s a quick introduction to who they are and what they do…

Who’s Lone Buffalo?

Lone Buffalo is a youth education and development project in Laos, set up 12 years ago by Mark Steadman, an Explore Tour Leader.

What does Lone Buffalo do?

Lone Buffalo’s mission is to provide free English tuition to students, to enable easier access to higher education and employment opportunities, increasing prosperity and bringing sustainable resilience to the area.

In addition to English tuition they provide a life skills programme called Develop Together (DevTog) which gives up to 100 students access to 25 workshops ranging from financial literacy, to child rights and gender equality, and basic fitness principles. It’s a varied programme that gives students practical skills they can use in different areas of their life. It’s this initiative that the Explore Foundation will be supporting, funding the DevTog 4 programme that begins in September 2023.

How is the Explore Foundation supporting the project?

The DevTog programme costs $19,000 a year to operate and the Explore Foundation is donating this amount in full. This means Lone Buffalo can focus on delivering a great range of workshops to best help the students.

“It means everything! The programme has become part of our culture at Lone Buffalo and it’s important we have the support to continue each term. It’s really changing young people’s lives, developing confidence, creating leaders and getting young people into tertiary education.”

Mark Steadman, COO of Lone Buffalo

How can you get involved?

If you’d like to support Lone Buffalo, you can donate at explore-foundation.com. As little as $25 can fund an interactive textbook that a student can use to support their English lessons. Explore Worldwide covers all administration costs for the Explore Foundation, so 100% of your donation will go directly to supporting the projects.

For more information about the Explore Foundation and its exciting projects visit explore-foundation.org