Those who have travelled to adventurous destinations before will be familiar with the less comfortable images of the developing world and, after witnessing these first hand, most are moved to want to do something to help. But the guide books are right, generally it’s not a good idea to encourage begging. Far better to donate to a charity doing respected work in the field. But who to trust?

We’ve all read about the bogus orphanages using children as a front to fund the lavish lifestyles of their “caring” proprietors - and the legendary charities which spend a large percentage of their funds on administration and marketing instead of the street kids they purport to support. The easiest thing to do when faced with humans-in-need is to turn away sympathetically, resolving to look into the situation later; to search out a legitimate, well-run charity that deserves our support and make an online donation from the comfort of our own homes. The trouble is, once we get home we get caught up in normal life and time inevitably goes by. Before we know it, it’s time to start booking the next adventure holiday.

Been there, done that, didn’t even get the local charity’s T-shirt.

Mango Cambodia enables travellers to strike while the iron’s hot by introducing you in person to a range of small local bona fide charities that are doing really good work. You’ll see exactly where your money would go, should you choose to support any of them - but don’t worry, there’ll be no pressure. Think of it as a fact-finding mission. We can't all be Angelina Jolie!