Learning About ShelterBox

We were delighted to welcome Howard Matthews from Christchurch Rotary to our meeting this week. Howard is the District 1110 ShelterBox Ambassador and Co-ordinator and came to speak to us about the work of ShelterBox.

Founded by the Rotary Club of Helston in Cornwall, as its Millenium project in 2000, the charity has grown from a local project aimed at helping a couple of dozen people to the internationally recognised disaster relief organisation that it is today, helping hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

Much of their work goes relatively unnoticed, as it's only the major disasters and conflicts that make the news, but ShelterBox has helping in hundreds of parts of the world where earthquakes, flooding, drought and conflict affect the lives of millions of people.

From the original concept of literally providing its iconic green box packed full of everything a family would need for basic survival, these days the organisation has learned to adapt to the needs on the ground and delivers a variety of different sets of equipment depending on the requirement. This could be anything from tents, to shelter tool kits, kitchen sets to blankets and so on. 

Its connections with Rotary remain strong, however, and Rotary groups continue to provide large amounts of funding for the organisation.

While he was with us, Howard formally presented our group with a Silver Partner Club award for raising in excess of £4,000 for the organisation in the past year, which was gratefully accepted by Secretary Chris LeFevre (pictured above).

Much more information about ShelterBox can be found on their website here.