Alan Shiel - Chair

Alan Shiel has been involved in Higher Education all his professional life. He currently works at University College London. The interest in providing support for Lao young people to go to University arose through a chance meeting with a group of monks at a temple in Luang Prabang in 2006.  This led to the formation of LEOT and its approval in July 2006 by the Charity Commission.

Alan came  to realise the enthusiasm for learning which existed, and the considerable barriers which young people faced in achieving their true potential. Like the other Trustees, Alan is a realist and knows that the extent to which a small charity can help is limited, but the low living costs associated with poverty in Laos mean that relatively small sums can go a long way to provide support for a group of students.

On his return to the UK, Alan shared his discoveries with friends and colleagues and found a surprising enthusiasm to assist.

Chris Hillman - Treasurer

Chris was born in Birmingham . After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1979, he moved to live and work in London .  Since 1983, he has worked in the commercial property industry as Director of Finance with a number of City institutions. 

As one of the founders of LEOT, Chris believes that delivering support to the underprivileged will ultimately benefit the society and that a country such as Laos deserves the support of the international community.

Chris has the responsibility for handling the financial affairs of the Trust.

Peter Banwell

Peter’s family has lived in South Bedfordshire for about 300 years. He is married to Catriona and lives in the market town of Leighton Buzzard. Peter is self-employed and runs his own vehicle engineering business.

Both enjoy travelling and have explored many Countries in South East Asia. They first visited Laos in February 2008. Having been enchanted with the Country and its people they joined LEOT as supporters on their return.

Peter and Catriona returned to Laos in February 2009 travelling down the Mekong to Luang Prabang and then on to Vientiane and Pakse in the South. During their stay they spent time in Luang Prabang and Vientiane meeting and getting to know our students and homeland director Teng.

Peter has recently been appointed a trustee of LEOT.

Veera Vuorinen

Veera was born in Finland and has lived and worked in London since 2000.

She is one of the founding members of Lao Educational Opportunities Trust and is responsible for the design and maintenance of the web site.

Homeland Director

Thalavanh Vongsonephet (“Teng”)

Teng lives in Vientiane and is an English major from The National University. He currently also holds a post with the World Bank but is applying for graduate school with a view to taking a Master’s course in Development Studies. He is 24, born in Luang Prabang where his father is the head of a primary school.

Teng contacted LEOT in March 2007, expressing a wish to work with the Charity, and the Trustees, realising the importance of having a Lao national to look after the affairs of the Charity within Laos , were delighted to appoint him to the position.

Quick links

You can now make donations online!

Read more about our first student, Monk Thong

Where is Laos? A map of Laos here

What we do: More about LEOT

External links:

Laos in the news: Life in rural Laos on BBC

BBC country profiles: Laos