July sees major announcements at ShelterBox
Posted on Aug 05, 2016
Chris Warham New ShelterBox CEO
Charity Commission approves the appointment of Chris Warham as new ShelterBox CEO.
ShelterBox is embarking on some exciting changes. Having already delivered aid to over a million beneficiaries, it has set off on a path towards major growth and has now appointed a new Chief Executive. Entrepreneur Chris Warham is to be the new Chief Executive of the international disaster relief agency, ShelterBox. He has been in post in an acting capacity for several months, but the Charity Commission has now endorsed his permanent appointment following an open recruitment that attracted more than sixty applicants from across the charity sector.
Chris Warham has set up and run several businesses in the UK and overseas, and most recently was Group Chief Operating Officer of the seven companies that made up the Good Relations Group – one of the UK’s leading communications agencies. He has worked for many years with ShelterBox as a speaker, fundraiser and response team volunteer. Becoming a Trustee in March 2012, Chris went on to chair ShelterBox’s UK board. Taking up the interim CEO role in April this year, he then stood down as a trustee and as Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.
Announcing Chris’s appointment, Chair of the Board of Trustees Dr. Rob John OBE said, ‘We believe that his passion for our cause, demonstrated experience of growing organizations and vision for what we can achieve together will inspire staff, affiliates, volunteers and donors alike. He is the right leader to steer ShelterBox through its next stage of development.’
Chris Warham has set up and run several businesses in the UK and overseas, and most recently was Group Chief Operating Officer of the seven companies that made up the Good Relations Group – one of the UK’s leading communications agencies. He has worked for many years with ShelterBox as a speaker, fundraiser and response team volunteer. Becoming a Trustee in March 2012, Chris went on to chair ShelterBox’s UK board. Taking up the interim CEO role in April this year, he then stood down as a trustee and as Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.
Announcing Chris’s appointment, Chair of the Board of Trustees Dr. Rob John OBE said, ‘We believe that his passion for our cause, demonstrated experience of growing organizations and vision for what we can achieve together will inspire staff, affiliates, volunteers and donors alike. He is the right leader to steer ShelterBox through its next stage of development.’
A business and technology graduate of Loughborough University, Chris Warham is an experienced pilot, mountaineer and marathon runner, and was a finalist in Granada TV’s ‘Flying Start in Business’. He takes up his permanent appointment as ShelterBox makes the small but significant step of relocating its offices to Truro in mid-August. Warehousing and box-packing will continue in Helston, where ShelterBox began in 2000.
Over the last six years, Chris has deployed as a volunteer response team member, including to the Republic of Congo and the Philippines. He says, 'I have looked into the eyes of mothers in refugee camps. I have stood with a father and his children as he looked at the ruins of his home. I am impatient for us to have the funds to help more people like this than ever before. I am impatient for us to find even more effective ways of meeting their needs. I am proud of what we do. I am passionate about what we do but I am impatient for us to do three times as much and achieve our potential.'
In 2015 ShelterBox helped around 30,000 families in disaster and war zones, with an expanding aid model that now includes the familiar green ShelterBox and white dome tent, as well as rebuilding and repair kits, sturdier transitional shelters to withstand hurricanes, and School Boxes of education materials. Having deployed to every continent except Antarctica in its 16-year history, towards the end of 2015 ShelterBox had reached out to its millionth beneficiary. By 2018 it aims to have the capacity to help 35,000 families a year.
In 2015 ShelterBox helped around 30,000 families in disaster and war zones, with an expanding aid model that now includes the familiar green ShelterBox and white dome tent, as well as rebuilding and repair kits, sturdier transitional shelters to withstand hurricanes, and School Boxes of education materials. Having deployed to every continent except Antarctica in its 16-year history, towards the end of 2015 ShelterBox had reached out to its millionth beneficiary. By 2018 it aims to have the capacity to help 35,000 families a year.
Rotary and ShelterBox renewed a three-year agreement
EVANSTON, Ill. (July 26, 2016) — Rotary and disaster relief charity ShelterBox renewed a three-year agreement to provide immediate, lifesaving assistance to survivors of natural disasters and conflict.
Rotary clubs worldwide have mobilized to provide immediate relief to thousands of displaced people quickly and efficiently with ShelterBox for 16 years. To date, Rotary members have donated US$48 million to provide shelter for families in need – 40 percent of ShelterBox's total of US$119.6 million raised.
"The partnership between Rotary and ShelterBox has provided a place of refuge to people facing some of the most difficult and uncertain moments in their lives," said John Hewko, general secretary of Rotary. "We are happy to renew this project partnership and honor our ongoing commitment to taking action to help communities devastated by disasters and conflict."
Each ShelterBox container typically provides a tent designed to withstand extreme weather conditions, along with regionally-appropriate supplies such as a water purification kit, blankets, tools, solar lights, and other necessities to help a family survive for six months or more after a disaster.
As part of the communities, they serve, Rotary clubs help ShelterBox identify and prioritize immediate relief needs in disaster-affected areas and assist with the deployment of shelter kits, education materials and lifesaving supplies. Rotary members also fund aid boxes, become trained relief volunteers, assist with shipping customs clearance and connect with governments and other organizations in impacted areas to facilitate the delivery of boxes and aid. CEO of ShelterBox, Chris Warham said, "Rotary and ShelterBox will always stand side by side to help those less fortunate. This project partnership renewal simply indicates the strength of our long friendship, and recognizes the immense practical and funding support provided by Rotary members worldwide to enable us to reach out to families in distress."
- Rotary International Press release