5 Volunteers to get to Uganda on 12 August!

I am embarrassed to be setting up this Go Fund Me page, but I am doing so for two purposes - to expose the worst company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with, and, to try and raise funds to purchase new flights so we can fulfil our obligation to the charity, Play Action International.

Dream World Travel Ltd is posing as a travel agency, using Cheapflights.co.uk and other platforms to sell airfares fraudulently. Dream World Travel Ltd takes full payment at the time of booking and states they will send e-tickets up to 4 weeks before departure.

They then do not issue any tickets or refunds.

Our story so far

I have volunteered with a fantastic charity called Play Action International, formerly East African Playgrounds. A sustainable charity working in Uganda, building and maintaining playgrounds for thousands of children in local communities whilst also providing year-round employment for Ugandan families. I have been to Uganda 4 times and enriched the lives of so many children in doing so. I have also taken UK school students out on five overseas projects. Hence, I estimate I've supported nine projects in developing countries, fundraising somewhere in the region of £150,000.

During the lockdown, I planned a further project for August this year. Each volunteer had to raise £1300 towards the project costs whilst using our own funds to pay for flights, insurance, activities in Uganda, visas, vaccinations etc. Each volunteer has raised and spent around £2500 - not the most significant sum of money in the world but enough for an ordinary person nonetheless. In February 2022, 5 fellow volunteers and I used Cheapflights.co.uk to find flights to Uganda and chose Emirates flights with Dream World Travel Ltd. We stand to lose around £4,000 in flight costs.

We have to travel on 12th August to fit in with all the existing arrangements we have made, but we have now had confirmation that we do not have flights, despite us all believing we did.

As you can imagine, we are all frustrated and angry but most of all, upset. If these were flights for a holiday, that would be one thing, but flights to go and volunteer, living out of a classroom in the most basic of conditions to enrich the lives of hundreds of children is another thing altogether. This isn't about us going to do our bit for white saviorism, this is about ensuring a worthwhile, dedicated, sustainable charity continues to be able to operate.

The school we are due to work at is in a remote part of eastern Uganda, close to the Kenyan border and whilst it has benefitted wonderfully by the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund in terms of classrooms, it is still without any play facilities. Play is so intrinsically important to children and to their development. Having a playground in a school setting also encourages families to send their children to school, to learn, rather than out to work at a young age.

681 children attend this school and would directly benefit from the playground we are hoping to build.

It is my mission to expose this awful company to ensure no-one else falls into this trap - it is absolutely heartbreaking to think that in 20 days, we will not be sitting on a plane to go and change lives but will no doubt be in an email war with a company who has taken at least £4,000 from us.

I cannot stress enough the fantastic work the charity does for families in Uganda; not only do they benefit the Ugandan children but the charity has moved into the northern refugee camps in order to support families driven out of the country directly north of Uganda who are living as refugees (this page would not allow me to write the name of the country...).

I have written to all the national newspapers, local media, TV shows such as The One Show, Rip Off Britain, the radio show You and Yours, our local MP and will continue to work hard to expose this company.

In the meantime, we are asking you to help us secure flights with Emirates who have now offered us return flights at £1500 each. Naturally, the closer we get to the date, the more expensive the flights become.

I will be putting in the cost of of the original flights to this Go Fund Me, on the basis that I should, at some point in my lifetime, get a refund from Dream World Travel.

Any excess funds raised will be donated directly to Play Action International so they can continue their fantastic work.

Thank you

Emma Byrne

Liza Bregazzi

Megan Barlow

Abbie Chambers

Pippa Maudsley

Abbie doing a beach clean up in Senegal 2019

Liza doing the same in 2019.

The first playground I helped build in Walakuba West, Jinja, Uganda

Before a playground is built, there is nothing for children to play on. 2015 project.

Getting ready to open the playground at Kiira Public Primary School, Jinja,Uganda 2016

Tubalera Primary School, Uganda