About Rotary ShelterBox’s

North Walsham rotary have supported the Shelterbox initiative since its inception and following the earthquake in Haiti immediately released a substantial sum of almost £2000 from its charity fund to purchase four Shelterboxes for immediate dispatch to the scene of the disaster. Following a street collection in North Walsham market place on the 21st January we are pleased to announce that the generous people of our area kindly donated a total of £821.20 towards our appeal for humanitarian aid for Haiti. Anyone who missed our street collection but would still like to give can leave any donation in an envelope labelled, “Rotary Haiti Appeal” at either Broadland travel in the Market place or Computer Assist on Norwich Road.

ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity specialising in emergency shelter provision. Humanitarian aid is delivered in iconic green ShelterBoxes. Each one contains a disaster relief tent for up to 10 people, a stove, blankets and other items essential for survival. ShelterBox responds to disaster as quickly as possible with the aim of helping the people who are most in need.   Every Shelterbox is individually numbered and can be tracked by donors. Each box costs £490 – including the cost of all materials, packing, storage, transport worldwide and distribution to the needy. Assuming six months’ use, this equates to shelter and warmth for less than 30 pence per person per day.  All aid delivery is undertaken by international volunteer ShelterBox Response Team members who have carried out extensive training with ShelterBox. We are often able to get aid where it is needed faster than any other organisation.

An initiative of Rotarian Tom Henderson OBE, a former Royal Navy search and rescue diver, ShelterBox started in 2000 as a project of the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, Cornwall. ShelterBox, now the largest Rotary Club project in the world, has responded to disasters including the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma). In 2010, ShelterBox will be celebrating its 10th anniversary.

The Rotary organisation is fairly unique amongst many charities in that 100% of all donations that we receive is forwarded to local, national and international causes with an army of volunteers being made up of Rotarians from clubs worldwide that carry out all the arduous tasks without any overheads .
Regards, Daniel Doyle, Publicity Officer for North Walsham Rotary