Shelter Box project goes into local schools

Rotary campaign to raise awareness of Shelter Boxes

Report by John Ewing 31 Oct 2011

The ShelterBox Charity was started some years ago by a British Rotary Club in Cornwall. To date some 108,900 boxes have been sent to disaster areas throughout the world.

Each strong box contains a tent for up to ten people with emergency equipment, including bedding, cooking equipment and stove, water purification equipment, waterproof clothing and many other items, outside food and water, which make life sustainable in a desperate emergency.

Boxes are stored in a warehouse for immediate dispatch by air. Each box costs £600.00. The Rotary Club of Ayr started this Project two years ago at the Flower Show in the town. We erected a tent, laid out the contents, explained the purpose of the box  to the public (1000 boxes had been sent to Haiti at the time), and collected donations. It was immediately obvious that there was a great deal of interest, with Organisations asking if they could collect the funds to send a ShelterBox on their own .

These shelter boxes can mean the difference between life and death

With this in mind Ayr Rotary Club are planning a major Project to demonstrate Shelterbox to local schools, by erecting a tent and contents, showing a DVD and having a question and answer session at Assembly. Display to other organisations will follow as required. This exercise will allow major participation by club members.

Shelter Box Website