ShelterBox
Rotary Portsmouth North has supported Shelterbox for many years though our Charity Golf Day which has raised thousands of pounds in enabling us to donate dozens of Boxes.
This is our primary overseas charity we support. And it was started by Rotary!
Built 25 years ago from the hard work and passion of a handful of founding volunteers, ShelterBox is a global community working to see no one without shelter after disaster.
It all started with an idea from the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in Cornwall to set up a millennium project with the goal of reaching a few dozen families a year. Boxes were originally packed in Helston, Cornwall. Now, ShelterBox has aid pre-positioned in warehouses around the world.
A box to provide shelter, essential items and technical assistance to help some of the world’s most vulnerable people recover and rebuild their homes after disaster. We listen and adapt our support to the needs of each community, working together with those affected by disaster, alongside our supporters and partners.
Pre-positioned ShelterBox aid in the IFRC Panama warehouse. The aid includes packed ShelterBox’s and shelter kits.
We have aid pre-positioned ShelterBoxes and equipment all round the world in places such as Panama and Dubai. This increases the flexibility of our responses, reduces costs and increases speed.
Some ShelterBox Stories
Honduras
We are working to help families in Honduras who lost their homes to Hurricanes Eta and Iota during last year’s particularly active Atlantic hurricane season. We are working with Habitat para la Humanidad Honduras and the Rotary Club of San Pedro Sula, as well as Habitat for Humanity International.
So far Habitat para la Humanidad Honduras with the support of Rotary Clubs have distributed to 2,932 Households. Each Household will receive a Shelter Kit package, with 2 tarpaulins and tools. In addition to the shelter materials, each package is likely to contain items such as a mosquito net, kitchen set, high thermal blanket, ShelterBox blanket (light), solar light, water carrier, water filter and a ShelterBox mat. The photo was taken during distributions in the Municipality of El Milagro Villanueva.
Bushaaro
“Leading a life without shelter is life with no hope”, these are the words of 16 year old Bushaaro from Somaliland. She is the sole carer of her six young siblings living in a camp for internally displaced people in the north-west of the country, Their mother passed away in 2015. Being the eldest child when this has happened, it became Bushaaro’s responsibility to head the family.
Prolonged drought in Ethiopia forced the family to move east to Somaliland in search of water and safety. The harsh weather killed all their livestock which was the main source of their livelihood.
Speaking to ShelterBox’s implementing partner ActionAid in Somaliland, Bushaaro said “In February 2016, I moved here with my brothers and sisters, We came with other displaced people who gathered to get the necessities of life. We had nothing when we arrived. I collected small cartons, plastics and wood to build a small shelter
Nour – ReliefAid Humanitarian Worker
Nour works for ReliefAid, delivering emergency shelters and other essentials including cooking sets, mattresses and warm blankets. ReliefAid work in partnership with disaster relief charity ShelterBox.
I live close to the clashes. The situation in Idlib is now crazy – thousands of families flee from one area to another to escape the bombing and death, carrying their pain with them. Many families could not escape and were killed, the roads were crowded with displaced people who do not know where to go.
One of the families I met said to me ” We were in our village and warplanes and canons started bombing houses and everything. We did not know what to do, because we could not escape because of the shelling and we could not stay. We waited until night and the shelling stopped and we ran away from the village quickly. We could not find a car to carry us, we walked on foot a long way until someone helped us. We left everything behind – our village, home, our dreams and everything close to us”.
The camps are catastrophically crowded. Many families share a single tent, and there is not enough aid provided by organisations due to the large numbers of displaced people. Families did not bring enough with them because they quickly came out to escape death.
Some of our current projects
Golf Day
Entry is now open for this year’s Charity Golf Day which will be held on the 6th June 2025 at Rowlands Castle Golf Club.
This will be the 25th anniversary of our Charity Golf Day, in that time, we have raised over £330,000 for charities.
Christmas Shoe Box Scheme
Portsmouth North club and other clubs up and down the country organise the collection and distribution of thousands of boxes to go to disadvantaged and displaced children in many countries including Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Ukraine.
ShelterBox
Over the last few years Portsmouth North has donated dozens of Shelter Boxes for this fantastic charity,who work with disaster-affected communities.
They provide the emergency shelter, essential items and training needed to support people in the long process of rebuilding their lives.
Our Local Schools
We work with and support our Local schools in Portsmouth North with Dictionaries for Life, project donations, reading, writing, youth speaks & sponsorships
They support us with Shoe Box’s at Christmas