Hi, I’m Jaimie! I am from Cambodia but now live in the UK. I’m taking on the Brighton & Hove Aquathlon (1.5km swim and 10km run) to hopefully raise £500 for Hile Teuk Kampuchea (HTK) — and I’d love your support!

Drowning is the leading cause of death for children aged 5–14 in Cambodia.

Hile Teuk Kampuchea (HTK) — meaning “Swim Cambodia” in Khmer — is an organisation with a mission to reduce child drowning and related injuries by educating communities about water safety, drowning prevention, life-saving techniques and swimming skills.

HTK was founded in 2022 in partnership with the UK-based charity S.W.I.M (Safety When It Matters) Cambodia, who have worked in Cambodia since 2012.

As a Cambodian, this cause hits home and is especially close to my heart. I was incredibly lucky to have learnt how to swim, and I want more Cambodian children to have that same opportunity. Not just to enjoy the benefits of swimming, but to have the skills and knowledge that could save their own life or someone else’s.

Water safety is a huge part of my life in the UK. I work as a beach lifeguard with the RNLI and hold both the National Vocational Beach Lifeguard Qualification (NVBLQ) and National Pool Lifeguard Qualification (NPLQ). I see how important water safety, drowning prevention and lifesaving skills are, which makes fundraising for HTK’s mission so meaningful.

As HTK don’t have an international fundraising platform yet, I am raising funds for SWIM Cambodia and all donations will be transferred to support HTK.

Every donation, no matter how much, will help support HTK’s work to give Cambodians access to swimming and water-safety education.

If you can donate, thank you. If you can’t, sharing this fundraiser is just as valuable. I really appreciate any support you give to help us learn the skills we need to be safer around water.

Learn more about Hile Teuk Kampuchea: hileteuk.org

Learn more about SWIM Cambodia: https://swimcambodia.org/