Global Festival: Day 4 – a visit from ShelterBox

By Ed Wright

A disaster relief charity visited the John Galsworthy courtyard yesterday to raise £600 for equipment that could be used to save lives, as KUSU’s Global Festival moves into day four.

ShelterBox is a distaster relief charity that provides shelter, warmth and dignity to those who have had their lives ruined by natural disasters.

Disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and conflict, that can affect any area of the world at almost any time, so this is a very relevant group for Global Festival to promote.

Richard Davill, a final year student in environmental hazards and disaster management, and volunteer said: “There is nothing else on the market like it. We sent 26,000 ShelterBoxes out to Haiti and most of them are still in use two years later.

“We don’t just send the boxes over, we have volunteers who fly out with them and find the people most in need of them. We try and work with the community in the affected areas.

“The aim today is to raise the £600 necessary to send a Kingston University box to a part of the world that needs it, to help up to ten people. The boxes are all have their own unique tracking numbers, so we will be able to see where it goes.”

The ShelterBox includes items such as a stove, gloves, blankets, mosquito net and a custom designed family tent, to name a few.

Richard Moseley, a volunteer with the society for over two years, said: “The tent is specifically designed to withstand natural disatsters. It has been tested in 100mph windtunnels, is very rhobust and is made of a special material that keeps n warm in cold weather and cool in hot weather.

“I think this is a very good idea because with ShelterBox you can see exactly where your money is going and exactly what you’ve bought for people. It’s better than just sending money over the phone and not knowing where it’s gone.”

The organisation keeps quantities of ShelterBoxes near areas of the world that are most prone to natural disatsters, like New Zealand and Haiti, and can have them distributed in less than 36 hours of a disatser occuring. They work in tandem with Oxfam and the Red Cross to help as many people worldwide as they physically can.

Anyone who wants more information can attend the Disaster Awareness Guest Lecture in Room JG0002 at Penrhyn Road from 5.15pm – 6.30pm today.