Town contributes to international aid

Annabel Williams • Published 15 Jan 2010 13:00 0 Comments

FIVE lifeline relief packages are being sent to earthquake-striken Haiti thanks to a benevolent Reading group playing its part in the rescue effort.

The Rotary Club of Reading is sending five ShelterBoxes, costing £500 each, to the country's disaster zone.

Each box supplies a family of up to 10 people with a tent and essential equipment such as basic tools, a camping stove, plates, cutlery and water purification tablets to use while they are homeless.

The club's act comes as news reports show the situation in Haiti becoming desperate, with locals complaining that aid is not getting through and thousands dying due to the unsanitary conditions in the quake's aftermath.

Charles Butler, Reading Rotary Club's international committee chairman, said: "I feel certain aid is getting through. I know ShelterBox had people flying out from America and the UK only a few hours after the earthquake struck.

"We know from past experience that aid will get through. When the Italian earthquake struck in April, ShelterBox was the first aid organisation on the ground."

The ShelterBox idea came from Tom Henderson, a Rotarian and former Royal Navy search and rescue diver.

The scheme was launched in April 2000, and ShelterBox has since grown to become the largest project in Rotary's 100-year history. It is now a charity in its own right.

Mr Butler added: "The images coming through on the news of Haiti were, I think, almost worse than what I saw after the Asian tsunami. I think the earthquake affected so many more ordinary people."

The Reading club is now appealing for further funds to support the earthquake appeal, and members are due to rattle collecting tins at The Oracle shopping centre this weekend.

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This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 15 Jan 10

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