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oung people from 1st Aldershot Scout group spent an evening learning about disaster relief charity ‘Shelterbox’ in the week that the strongest storm ever recorded began hit the Philippines. Trained volunteer Tim Vile visited the troop in North Town to explain a bit more about the charity and what they do in what had been a very busy week for their volunteers. Shelterbox provide emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters, at the time when they need it the most. Since founding 12 years ago they have responded to over 200 natural or man made disasters in almost 90 different countries and provided lifesaving aid for well over one million people. The evening began by showing the group of young people a very moving video focusing on some of the areas where Shelterbox are involved in helping out. The Scouts seemed quite stunned by some of the conditions that people were living in overseas. Tim then went on to talk about the work the charity carries out and how the recipients of their ‘Shelterboxes’ benefit.
Shelterbox visit st 1 Aldershot Scouts The Scouts even had the chance to view the contents of a real-life Shelterbox. One of the big green boxes was brought to the Scout hut and they were asked to guess the kind of things that Shelterbox would provide in one of these. They were quite surprised to find out just how much the Shelterbox contained and how useful everything inside was (especially when they found out some of the uses of the box itself in some areas e.g. a water container or a cot). ShelterBox have an effective solution to disaster response, they deliver the essentials a family needs to survive in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, groundsheets, water storage and filtration equipment, cooking utensils, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items. The Scouts were quite intrigued to find the Shelterbox would usually include a stove inside. The Scouts were guided through each of the items in the Shelterbox and even got to have a go at putting up one of the Shelterbox tents (which recipients may have to live in for several years).
They worked as a team to put up the dome-shaped canvas and got to view what the tent looked like from inside and outside, they even had the go at seeing if they could all fit lying down inside. The young people had lots of questions to ask throughout the evening. Shelterbox have arranged to come back to the group next week with a visit to the cub section where they will educate the younger members of the unit. Our Scouts were very engrossed by the subject and were very interested in finding out more about the charity (and the disaster issues they face). Shelterbox are currently running an emergency appeal for hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in the Philippines are now homeless and without clean water or food in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan. If you would like to donate to the cause please visit www.shelterbox.org/ donate. If you would like to know more about 1st Aldershot Scouts please visit www.1staldershot.co.uk (Twitter #1stAldershot). Nathan Barham 1st Aldershot Scouts Assistant Leader www. hampshirescouts.org.uk
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