Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy (AKP), the nonprofit arm of global travel leader Abercrombie & Kent released its 2024 Impact Report today, 31st July.
The report details a record-breaking year of global community support across 25 countries.
Building on over 60 years of community investment since founder Geoffrey Kent established the company's commitment to supporting local communities, AKP's £2.1 million in funding supported 70+ projects, directly benefiting 400,000 people through education, health, enterprise, and environmental programmes.
A&K Philanthropy executive director Keith Sproule remarked: “AKP’s mission is to ensure that travel creates lasting, tangible benefits in the places we visit. We believe that the best way to protect our planet’s remaining wilderness is to invest in the people who live there. The linchpin of this effort is our commitment to staffing 17 full-time community development professionals, stretching from Peru to Kenya and Egypt to Cambodia.”
2024 in the numbers
- 6,300+ children fed daily through school lunch programs in East Africa
- 800+ students gained access to new classrooms in Cambodia
- 90 water wells drilled in Siem Reap (2,000+ total funded by AKP since inception))
- 107 LifeStraw filters installed and 108,000 students in East Africa now benefit from AKP’s Safe Water for Schools Initiative
- 1,667 bikes delivered to women entrepreneurs in Uganda and Zambia (20,000+ total shipped)
- 2 containers of life-saving medical supplies sent to hospitals in Uganda and Zambia
- 25+ countries served across 4 continents
Key highlights from the past year
Education and Health: School Lunch Programme in East Africa
School lunch programmes in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, and Namibia improved attendance and concentration.
The programme was so effective that one school even saw a 270 percent spike in enrollment.
Education: Building Schools in Cambodia
Since 2018, AKP’s investments in school infrastructure around Siem Reap, Cambodia have benefited more than 1,600 students.
In 2024, AKP built new classroom blocks at Kok Chan and Tapang Primary Schools, serving more than students and helping reduce overcrowding whilst improving the quality of education through added amenities like playgrounds and teaching materials.
Enterprise: Equipping Women to Earn a Living on the Trail
In Peru and Sri Lanka, AKP is advancing women’s economic independence through hiking guide training programs.
In Peru’s Sacred Valley, 12 women from the Village of the Flowers have been trained as trail guides through AKP support.
On Sri Lanka’s Pekoe Trail, AKP helped train four trail champions and nine assistants in partnership with the Pekoe Trail Organization, with plans to expand the initiative in 2025.
Environment: Saving and Rehabilitating Birds of Prey
Each year in Tasmania, Australia, approximately 100 raptors are killed due to human-related threats, making them among the state’s most threatened wildlife.
Since 2019, A&K has supported the Raptor Refuge, a sanctuary dedicated to sheltering and rehabilitating injured birds of prey.
Just last year, A&K contributed funding for the construction of a flight aviary specifically for the white-bellied eagle, which currently is home to two non-releasable eagles.
The Raptor Refuge plans to build a second flight tunnel that will allow visitors to experience the thrill of a bird of prey landing on their gloved arm.
Everything goes to the cause
In 2024 AKP received £2.1 million in charitable support from A&K Travel Group and generous contributions from A&K guests and donors.
AKP applies 100 percent of guest donations to directly support the donor’s choice of program.
A&K Philanthropy is a 501(c)3 U.S. nonprofit and a registered charity in the U.K. and has earned the GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid.org.
