Brixham-born Tim Phillipson spent his entire life in the Devon fishing town before a change in life led him to move to Cambodia in search of a different path. While living in Cambodia, Tim met and married a local Khmer woman and, through her, became closely connected with life in rural communities. What he did not expect, however, was that a visit to his wife’s village school would set him on a mission to help protect thousands of children.
During that visit, something happened that would keep him awake at night.
At first, the visit seemed completely normal. Children were outside during their break time, running around the dusty schoolyard, laughing and playing as they do every day in schools across the world. Nothing about the playground initially stood out.
Then suddenly a child could be heard screaming.
Teachers and adults rushed across the yard to see what had happened. The child had been playing on the school’s metal slide and had cut themselves badly. When Tim asked what had happened, the teacher calmly explained that injuries on the slide were unfortunately quite common.
It was only when Tim walked over and properly inspected the slide that the real problem became clear.
What at first glance looked like a normal piece of playground equipment was actually in very poor condition. Years of exposure to Cambodia’s intense heat and heavy seasonal rains had caused the metal to corrode and rust. Large sections of the slide had worn away completely, leaving sharp holes in the metal and jagged edges where children were sliding down.
Despite the dangers, the equipment was still used every day. For the school, it was simply the only playground children had in the entire village and their only source of recreation.
Tim realised he couldn’t simply walk away from the problem and set about fundraising to replace it
After 6 long sleepless months, Tim managed to fundraise for a brand new commercial slide, the dangerous slide was removed and replaced with the safe one.
But what happened next revealed that the problem was far bigger than one school.
Once the playground had been replaced, teachers and village leaders from neighbouring schools began reaching out to Tim asking for help. Many sent photographs showing playgrounds in even worse condition – rusted climbing frames, broken welds, collapsing swings and structures that had deteriorated after years of exposure to the harsh tropical climate.
It quickly became clear that the issue extended far beyond a single playground, it was a silent epidemic that people knew nothing about.
Across many rural areas of Cambodia, playgrounds are often overlooked when funding is prioritised. Classrooms, roofs and other essential infrastructure understandably come first. Yet playgrounds are used every single day by hundreds of children, and when equipment deteriorates the injuries can become a regular occurrence that gets normalised.
This shouldn’t be the case!
What began as concern over one damaged slide slowly started to grow into something much bigger.
So Tim created Children’s Charity Cambodia, working with village communities to remove dangerous playground equipment and replace it with safe places for children to play. He says the impact of replacing a playground is immediate.
When a dangerous structure is removed and replaced, injuries stop overnight. Schools regain a sense of pride, teachers and parents feel more confident about children playing during break times, and communities feel reassured that their children have not been forgotten. Most importantly, children are once again able to play freely without fear of injury.
The mission also carries a deeply personal meaning for Tim. He grew up alongside two brothers who lived with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a severe genetic condition that causes progressive muscle weakness. His brother Christian became a passionate advocate for accessible playgrounds in the UK and helped champion the UK government to ensure that newly built playgrounds included equipment children with disabilities could use alongside everyone else.
Continuing that legacy is something Tim hopes to achieve in Cambodia as well. Future playground projects aim to include accessible play equipment so that children living with disabilities can also enjoy safe and inclusive play.
To continue replacing dangerous playgrounds, Tim is now hoping to build a community of supporters willing to help in a simple way.
Rather than relying only on occasional large donations, the project hopes to grow a community of parents and supporters contributing small monthly amounts – often no more than the cost of a coffee per month – to help replace more dangerous playgrounds and allow the work to continue.
If you would like to become part of this growing community and help prevent children from suffering injuries on dangerous playground equipment, you can support the mission by setting up a small monthly donation here:
https://donorbox.org/childrenscharitycambodia
Supporters can follow the playground transformations and see the real impact of their help through regular updates and stories shared online.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6158597648629
What began with one child’s injury and a rusted playground slide has now grown into a mission to ensure Cambodian Children have something Western Children take for granted.
A safe place to play.
Written and submitted by Children’s Charity Cambodia
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