Our Charity Commitments
We are determined that our impact on the world comes not just from generating demand for responsible tourism and hence benefiting destinations and local people through our core business, but also through direct donations from our bottom line to related charities.
We believe that the success of the one should feed the commitment of the other, so our policy is to donate £1 for every booking that is made through us to chosen charities. Whilst that may not sound much at first glance, the total we've paid to charities to date is over £10175 (we have paid out to 11 charities so far) with at least another £7000 on the way, which can make a significant difference to any charity.
You can read all about the charities that have benefited from this scheme below including our current charity, Shanti Trust.
Shanti Trust, a cultural centre on Lake Malawi.
Brett and Lara Pollard have been working with the local communities near their lodge on Lake Malawi since the land was donated to Lara’s mother by villagers in return for support in building schools and providing assistance through various projects (school building and finance of running costs, tree planting, school feeding programme, women’s groups). One of these projects is the plan to build a cultural centre to provide an outlet for villagers to sell traditional handicrafts.
Lara Pollard describes how the project has evolved:
Following a meeting with two Chiefs, Chief Yakucha and Chief Chimbano and we discussed what would be of most assistance to local people and was agreed that income through tourism would give an invaluable means of economic diversification. We began the cultural center last year and have started it very simply. We offer the tour to our guest and at present it involves a walk around our historical points, the church built by David Livingstone’s missionaries and the graves. Then we walk to the village and meet some of the local people and then proceed to a site we chose as the point we would like to set up the main center.
We began to collect some artifacts from around the village and would now like to build a small building that can be the museum and main center. We are using all local products building a local hut in keeping with the village.
You end up at the Chief’s house where you get to experience some local dances, local cuisine, see how the old people still grind millet and for the adventurous have a go in the local dug outs that the fishermen make look so simple! You will also be told by our Chief Yakucha some history of the area and shown some local artifacts. We are in the process of raising money to build a small building which will then be our museum.
The money raised from the tour and museum will be used to assist our feeding program and help set up local people in making crafts from carvings, basket weaving and pot making. The aim of the museum and cultural center is for the young people to keep hold of their culture and have the opportunity to share this with tourists.
responsibletravel.com will be supporting the building of the cultural centre in recognition of the importance of this project in assisting local people to benefit positively from tourism in what is one the poorest countries in the world.
Between April-June we chose to support ActionAid's community healthcare for women programme in Cambodia.
Around the world, women and girls suffer silently from illness, disease and death caused by a lack of sufficient healthcare facilities. In Cambodia, over 95% of women in rural areas do not have access to any kind of medical care. The few women who do manage to reach a health centre often find that the medical supplies have run out. In the absence of proper health services, women often use traditional midwives, who are untrained even in basic sanitation.
The project will set up 30 community health centres, which will provide women in Cambodia with access to experienced birth attendants, contraception, medical supplies, basic check ups and referrals where necessary. The new health facilitators will provide regular workshops on different areas of healthcare.
This project will also establish a community healthcare programme which will provide 20,000 people in rural Cambodia with access to healthcare facilities. The project will provide leadership training to 12 experienced health facilitators, who will then go on to train another 60 women across 30 villages to become volunteer health facilitators themselves. This project will help thousands of women in Cambodia to address their own health needs for a happier and healthier future.
ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency whose aim is to fight poverty worldwide. Formed in 1972, for over 30 years we have been growing and expanding to where we are today - helping over 13 million of the world's poorest and most disadvantaged people in 42 countries worldwide. ActionAid is a registered charity No. 274467.
Justin chose The TESFA Fund, highly commended in the 2005 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards, following his trip to Ethiopia. responsibletravel.com have donated £1800, which will be used to benefit the village, including buying a motorbike.
Justin says: "The first part of my trip involved a very remote trek. We saw no tourists at all. By the third day we’d reached a tiny community of about 50 households – our 'lodge' below. The nearest rough road was about 30km away. Although the people are desperately poor people rushed out of their tiny fields to offer us food they had grown.
I discovered that through tourism they had – for the very first time ever – been able to save some money ($500). This is pretty much a lifesaver for them as even in a good year for the rains they only just have enough food. If the rain fails they are in serious trouble. Off their own backs they decided to use some of their savings to set up a micro credit programme to loan money to other members of their community so they can start trading in grain and diversify their incomes to reduce their risk. In essence tourism had given them a chance they’ve never had before.
TESFA is exceptionally well run. They have 3 camps about 60 km apart, with remote communities in each that cannot be contacted by phone. They have no vehicle to coordinate clients and bookings and rely on getting a lift from a local charity’s car.
It means they waste days of time and have their (local) manager stranded for days at a time. Most big donors won’t fund vehicles – despite it being the very thing that the community need most. For this reason, we decided to buy them a motorbike, which would make the world of difference to them, mean they can take more bookings, and literally change lives.
You can read more about their accommodation here.
We chose The Woodland Trust as one of our charities and responsibletravel.com have donated £2000
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity; protecting ancient woodland, restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods, creating new native woodland, and increasing people’s understanding and enjoyment of woodland. We care for over 1,000 sites throughout the UK and are keen to engage people in our activities. All our woods are freely open to the public and we run a programme of events including tree planting and woodland walks. Donations received from holiday bookings made with Responsible Travel will enable more children to plant trees as part of the Trust’s campaign Tree for All. Read more here
Iris nominated Archelon, Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece as her chosen charity, responsibletravel.com has made a £1000 donation
Archelon is a non-profit making NGO dedicated to protecting sea turtles and their habitats in Greece through monitoring and research, developing and implementing management plans, habitat restoration, raising public awareness and rehabilitating sick and injured turtles read more here
Paul nominated Afrikids as his charity and responsibletravel.com has made a £1500 donation read more here
AfriKids works to support and expand the work of local individuals and groups in Northern Ghana, and this is exactly what we are doing with Laadi. Laadi is now manager of ‘Operation Mango Tree’, one of AfriKids’ 7 major projects and we have nearly finished building her amazing family a new home.
Paul is also contributing to this project personally through the sale of his own CD single, recorded as part of the Make Poverty History campaign.
Kawaza Village Basic School: responsibletravel.com has made a £500 donation to help build a new class room - read more here
We have been supporting this village for a year now and it is a fantastic example of how direct aid, managed by the community can overcome poverty and give flight to the dreams and aspirations of a whole generation.
Friends of Conservation - responsibletravel.com has donated £905
FOC was founded in 1982 to help prevent wildlife and habitat degredation in the Masai Mara - one of the most ecologically important regions of the world. Over the last 23 years we have become an organisation with a reputation as one of East Africa's leading conservation bodies and work alongside some of the most progressive minds in this arena.
We believe that the success of the one should feed the commitment of the other, so our policy is to donate £1 for every booking that is made through us to chosen charities. Whilst that may not sound much at first glance, the total we've paid to charities to date is over £10175 (we have paid out to 11 charities so far) with at least another £7000 on the way, which can make a significant difference to any charity.
You can read all about the charities that have benefited from this scheme below including our current charity, Shanti Trust.
Shanti Trust, a cultural centre on Lake Malawi. Brett and Lara Pollard have been working with the local communities near their lodge on Lake Malawi since the land was donated to Lara’s mother by villagers in return for support in building schools and providing assistance through various projects (school building and finance of running costs, tree planting, school feeding programme, women’s groups). One of these projects is the plan to build a cultural centre to provide an outlet for villagers to sell traditional handicrafts.
Lara Pollard describes how the project has evolved: Following a meeting with two Chiefs, Chief Yakucha and Chief Chimbano and we discussed what would be of most assistance to local people and was agreed that income through tourism would give an invaluable means of economic diversification. We began the cultural center last year and have started it very simply. We offer the tour to our guest and at present it involves a walk around our historical points, the church built by David Livingstone’s missionaries and the graves. Then we walk to the village and meet some of the local people and then proceed to a site we chose as the point we would like to set up the main center.
We began to collect some artifacts from around the village and would now like to build a small building that can be the museum and main center. We are using all local products building a local hut in keeping with the village. You end up at the Chief’s house where you get to experience some local dances, local cuisine, see how the old people still grind millet and for the adventurous have a go in the local dug outs that the fishermen make look so simple! You will also be told by our Chief Yakucha some history of the area and shown some local artifacts. We are in the process of raising money to build a small building which will then be our museum.
The money raised from the tour and museum will be used to assist our feeding program and help set up local people in making crafts from carvings, basket weaving and pot making. The aim of the museum and cultural center is for the young people to keep hold of their culture and have the opportunity to share this with tourists.
responsibletravel.com will be supporting the building of the cultural centre in recognition of the importance of this project in assisting local people to benefit positively from tourism in what is one the poorest countries in the world.
Between April-June we chose to support ActionAid's community healthcare for women programme in Cambodia. Around the world, women and girls suffer silently from illness, disease and death caused by a lack of sufficient healthcare facilities. In Cambodia, over 95% of women in rural areas do not have access to any kind of medical care. The few women who do manage to reach a health centre often find that the medical supplies have run out. In the absence of proper health services, women often use traditional midwives, who are untrained even in basic sanitation.
The project will set up 30 community health centres, which will provide women in Cambodia with access to experienced birth attendants, contraception, medical supplies, basic check ups and referrals where necessary. The new health facilitators will provide regular workshops on different areas of healthcare.
This project will also establish a community healthcare programme which will provide 20,000 people in rural Cambodia with access to healthcare facilities. The project will provide leadership training to 12 experienced health facilitators, who will then go on to train another 60 women across 30 villages to become volunteer health facilitators themselves. This project will help thousands of women in Cambodia to address their own health needs for a happier and healthier future.
ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency whose aim is to fight poverty worldwide. Formed in 1972, for over 30 years we have been growing and expanding to where we are today - helping over 13 million of the world's poorest and most disadvantaged people in 42 countries worldwide. ActionAid is a registered charity No. 274467. Justin chose The TESFA Fund, highly commended in the 2005 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards, following his trip to Ethiopia. responsibletravel.com have donated £1800, which will be used to benefit the village, including buying a motorbike. Justin says: "The first part of my trip involved a very remote trek. We saw no tourists at all. By the third day we’d reached a tiny community of about 50 households – our 'lodge' below. The nearest rough road was about 30km away. Although the people are desperately poor people rushed out of their tiny fields to offer us food they had grown.
I discovered that through tourism they had – for the very first time ever – been able to save some money ($500). This is pretty much a lifesaver for them as even in a good year for the rains they only just have enough food. If the rain fails they are in serious trouble. Off their own backs they decided to use some of their savings to set up a micro credit programme to loan money to other members of their community so they can start trading in grain and diversify their incomes to reduce their risk. In essence tourism had given them a chance they’ve never had before.
TESFA is exceptionally well run. They have 3 camps about 60 km apart, with remote communities in each that cannot be contacted by phone. They have no vehicle to coordinate clients and bookings and rely on getting a lift from a local charity’s car. It means they waste days of time and have their (local) manager stranded for days at a time. Most big donors won’t fund vehicles – despite it being the very thing that the community need most. For this reason, we decided to buy them a motorbike, which would make the world of difference to them, mean they can take more bookings, and literally change lives.
You can read more about their accommodation here.
We chose The Woodland Trust as one of our charities and responsibletravel.com have donated £2000The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity; protecting ancient woodland, restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods, creating new native woodland, and increasing people’s understanding and enjoyment of woodland. We care for over 1,000 sites throughout the UK and are keen to engage people in our activities. All our woods are freely open to the public and we run a programme of events including tree planting and woodland walks. Donations received from holiday bookings made with Responsible Travel will enable more children to plant trees as part of the Trust’s campaign Tree for All. Read more here Iris nominated Archelon, Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece as her chosen charity, responsibletravel.com has made a £1000 donationArchelon is a non-profit making NGO dedicated to protecting sea turtles and their habitats in Greece through monitoring and research, developing and implementing management plans, habitat restoration, raising public awareness and rehabilitating sick and injured turtles read more here
Paul nominated Afrikids as his charity and responsibletravel.com has made a £1500 donation read more here AfriKids works to support and expand the work of local individuals and groups in Northern Ghana, and this is exactly what we are doing with Laadi. Laadi is now manager of ‘Operation Mango Tree’, one of AfriKids’ 7 major projects and we have nearly finished building her amazing family a new home. Paul is also contributing to this project personally through the sale of his own CD single, recorded as part of the Make Poverty History campaign.
Kawaza Village Basic School: responsibletravel.com has made a £500 donation to help build a new class room - read more here We have been supporting this village for a year now and it is a fantastic example of how direct aid, managed by the community can overcome poverty and give flight to the dreams and aspirations of a whole generation.
Friends of Conservation - responsibletravel.com has donated £905 FOC was founded in 1982 to help prevent wildlife and habitat degredation in the Masai Mara - one of the most ecologically important regions of the world. Over the last 23 years we have become an organisation with a reputation as one of East Africa's leading conservation bodies and work alongside some of the most progressive minds in this arena.