ShelterBox in Action 2025

To date this year ShelterBox have continued their responses from last year across the world, as detailed here, as well as responding in: 

Gaza

ShelterBox aid continues to be blocked from entering Gaza due to Israeli aid restrictions. Most of the aid that they had in Gaza before the blockade has now been distributed by their partners which included: temporary and portable shelter items like tents, tarpaulins, and rope allow people to create temporary homes and make them watertight. They also supported people with kitchen sets, bedding and hygiene kits. They have more aid in Jordan ready to go, and enough tents to shelter thousands of people, but we can’t move it because of the ongoing restrictions. They continue to closely monitor the situation working with local partners, who were already present in Gaza.

Myanmar

A powerful earthquake in March devastated regions across Myanmar. The largest in over a hundred years it was so powerful it buckled roads, destroyed homes, schools and hospitals and had a significant impact on water supplies and power lines. In the early phases crucial support was given by Rotary locally and in July they began supporting thousands of people from 36 villages assisting with repairs to damaged homes, with each household also receiving corrugated iron roof sheeting and fixings.

Syria

ShelterBox have been supporting people in Northwest and Northeast Syria which has endured the brunt of the conflict, leaving countless families vulnerable. Winters are harsh, unpredictable, and extreme with temperatures often dropping below freezing, making survival without proper support nearly impossible. Over the 2024 winter they provided shelter repair kits, winter clothing, blankets and essential household items to 1,700 long-term displaced households to help people to survive the freezing winter months. They are currently evaluating and planning for upcoming projects to support more people.

Chad

The conflict in Sudan has resulted in over 900,000 people fleeing to Chad taking with them only what they could carry. ShelterBox have been working in Chad to support people arriving from Sudan by improving shelters and distributing essential household items like solar lights, mosquito nets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, blankets and stoves.

25 Years of ShelterBox

2025 marks 25 years of ShelterBox providing emergency shelter to more than 3 million people in over 100 countries, spanning Asia, Africa, South America, Oceania, Europe, and North America. They have responded to earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and conflicts – that’s more than 300 people every day! Powered by the transformational impact of Rotary worldwide they have helped people rebuild their lives with practical tools, right up to their most recent operations in Ukraine, Northern Syria, Türkiye and Gaza.

ShelterBox are incredibly grateful for the generosity and commitment of Rotary clubs in Great Britain and Ireland which they note is more critical than ever as it is predicted in the next 25 years 1.2 billion people will be at risk of losing their homes to disaster - that is around 1 in 6 people alive today. With continued support ShelterBox are primed and ready to deliver emergency shelter when the next big disaster strikes as well as continuing to help people in Gaza, Syria, Chad and Cameroon and the millions around the world who urgently need their help.

Major Responses

2000		ShelterBox was founded in the small town of Helston, Cornwall by the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard
2001		1st disaster they responded to was after the 7.7 magnitude Gujarat Earthquake on 26 January which killed nearly 20,000 people and destroyed nearly 400,000 homes. Working in partnership with local Rotary contacts, emergency shelter aid and other essential items were provided to families.
2002		Their largest ever and operational changing response. The devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami on Boxing Day changed ShelterBox forever. It devastated the nearest coastlines of Indonesia, killing a quarter of a million people and making nearly two million people homeless. There was a massive surge of support from around the world and as donations and volunteers poured in and they were able to ramp up operations on a scale unimaginable just six months earlier and sent out more than 22,000 boxes. This was almost 10 times the number sent out in the previous three years. Working closely with local Rotary partners they responded in Indonesia and Sri Lanka providing emergency shelter aid and other essential items to thousands of families. For the first time they recruited ShelterBox volunteers from firefighters and healthcare workers to travel with the boxes and distribute them and within days had a team of four ready to travel to Sri Lanka. This response changed the way they worked as ShelterBox Response Team volunteers are now an established and essential part of ShelterBox responses around the world.
2008		the 50th country they helped was the Democratic Republic of Congo, after 250,000 people were forced from their homes by the ongoing conflict
2011		over 20,000 people lost their lives and over half a million were displaced after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Tohoku, Japan, on 11 March triggered a tsunami with waves of up to 10 meters. Working with local Rotary groups, ShelterBox provided emergency shelter aid as well as winter gloves, scarves and hats to help people survive the freezing conditions.
2012		they started providing shelter for families forced to leave their homes fleeing the war in Syria and have been doing so ever since. It is now their longest running ongoing response and has supported over 325,000 people so far
2013		teams support people after Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines
2016		they supported people with emergency shelter after Cyclone Winston hit Fiji
2021		after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the west of Haiti, they provided emergency shelter aid to help communities rebuild
2022		they responded to the Ukraine crisis, helping more than 130,000 people affected by the war. They helped people displaced within Ukraine, as well as refugees who crossed the border into Moldova
2023		devastating earthquakes struck both Northern Syria and Türkiye on 6th February, killing 50,000 people and destroying more than 66,000 buildings. They supported over 12,500 people with emergency shelter and household items particularly as many people were afraid to sleep indoors, fearing another earthquake
2024		more than 90% of the population in Gaza were displaced after October 2023 and they have supported over 2500 households with shelter and household items, including tents, tarpaulins, bedding items, and kitchen items.

Ten Foundations

The Club with Belfast Junior Chamber is actively supporting Ten Foundations with the building of homes in the remote Balayan region of the Philippines.

Ten Foundations is a charity founded by Ian Campbell in Belfast in 2012. It aims is to empower women living in extreme poverty in the Philippines to help them break extreme poverty they have been stuck in by:

• providing skills so they can earn an income to improve their overall life
• ensure that all children connected to the community are educated to the highest possible standard and
• through their housing project vastly improve the standard of living for people connected to the project

The women are taught the skills and given the tools to transform their own lives, by being able to design and produce extremely high quality schoolbags/backpacks to be sold throughout the UK and Ireland instore and online. The knock-on effect of this is that they are now able to provide their families with food, healthcare, home and improvements and, most importantly, they can send their children to school every day which aids the escape from the extreme poverty cycle that they have been born into. The charity currently employs over 70 paid staff in the Philippines, which consists of research and development, designers, bag makers, marketing, quality control and a management team to oversee the project.

ShelterBox in Action - 2024

In 2024 ShelterBox responded in 17 different countries or regions, after hurricanes, flooding, conflict and tropical cyclones helping 270,000 people.

These responses included:

Gaza
In Gaza almost all buildings have been damaged or destroyed, including houses, schools, and hospitals. At least 1.9 million people have been displaced, 70,000 people in northern Israel and around 1 million people in Lebanon with families having to move again and again. The need for shelter is overwhelming in the Middle East, winters can be cold and wet and ShelterBox worked with local partners to distribute aid including tents, plastic sheeting, rope, tarpaulins, mattresses, bedding sets, washing sets, hygiene and kitchen kits.

Lebanon
As the war in Gaza rages on ShelterBox note it is now having a devastating effect in Lebanon, buildings have been reduced to rubble and people have fled airstrikes with only what they can carry and without the essentials they need to survive. Whilst the ceasefire offers people a glimmer of hope, many have lost everything and although people have begun returning home, tens of thousands do not have safe and secure homes to return to and will remain displaced or living in damaged homes for the foreseeable future requiring humanitarian assistance. ShelterBox, partnering with a community aid organisation based in Lebanon, supported displaced people in collective shelters with thermal blankets and hygiene kits. They also funded cleaning items like brooms, floor mops, and soap that people can use to keep shared shelters tidy and as clean as is possible when conditions are crowded.

Philippines
Every year, around 20 tropical storms sweep across the Philippines. It’s one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, affected by extreme weather, earthquakes, and active volcanoes. At the end of the year, it was hit by six tropical storms - back-to-back in less than a month. ShelterBox have a team permanently based in Cebu with stored emergency shelter and liaised closely with the Rotary Executive Director of Disaster Management Incorporated (DMI) of D3860 to understand what emergency shelter is required and the most efficient way to get aid to people who need it most.

Syria
The Assad regime has fallen which marks a historic turning point after nearly 14 years of conflict and heralds an extremely uncertain time for the people of Syria. More than half of the pre-war population of Syria have been displaced; many are without adequate shelter, living in collective centres, old tents, or makeshift shelters in camps and 16m people still need humanitarian assistance. ShelterBox were able to respond with blankets and mattresses for new arrivals but further aid distributions with their local partner were paused until it was safe to continue. Winter aid distributions in northwest Syria to provide tarpaulins, rope, warm clothing, shoes, and high thermal blankets to families during the bitterly cold Syrian winter have now resumed.

Mozambique
The conflict in northern Mozambique has been causing widespread displacement since 2017 and is one of the fastest growing displacement crises in the world. People are having to move again and again as areas become unsafe because of the escalating violence. As of March 2024, over 780,000 people (80% women and children) have been forced to leave their homes. The need for shelter is huge, with families sleeping outdoors, exposed to harsh weather, disease and other protection risks. On top of this on 15 December 2024 Tropical Cyclone Chido hit Mozambique, damaging homes, roads and other buildings. Over 170,000 people were affected, ShelterBox provided support with shelter kits, tarpaulins, solar lights, kitchen sets, sleeping mats, and mosquito nets to the vulnerable communities affected by the conflict and those by Tropical Cyclone Chido with blankets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, woven bags, mosquito nets and solar lights.

Ethiopia
Ethiopia is in crisis. Millions of people have been forced to flee their homes due to violent conflict, rising hunger and economic instability all of which have left millions of people in need. ShelterBox have supported over 157,000 people in Ethiopia since 2018. Working with their local partner, ShelterBox, in project 7, supported a total of 35,000 people in the Afar and Somali regions in 2024 with tarpaulins, rope, blankets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, water carriers and kitchen sets which help people to survive in the increasing insecurity.

Somalia
Looming famine, deadly drought and conflict has caused more than 1.7 million people to flee their homes in Somalia. As a result many people are living in unfit conditions with basic needs not met, privacy and protection concerns with women and children especially vulnerable. ShelterBox provided the materials and technical guidance to their local partner to construct locally appropriate shelters, built using timber framing and tarpaulins. In 2024 project 2 supported more than 2,3000 vulnerable families with mosquito nets, solar lights, blankets and kitchen sets.

Malawi
Heavy rainfall in Malawi in early 2024 led to severe flooding and more than 12,000 displaced people in central Malawi. The floods also destroyed crops, roads and bridges. People displaced by the floods have been living in schools and other community buildings, or with host families. Thousands more sought shelter in displacement camps, where there were already families living displaced by Cyclone Freddy in 2023. ShelterBox responded with pre-positioned aid following that cyclone including - tarpaulins, groundsheets, tools, water filters and carriers, kitchen sets, solar lights, thermal blankets and mattresses.

Bangladesh
In May 2024, Cyclone Remal made landfall in Bangladesh and was the most devastating storm to hit Bangladesh for some years bringing devastating winds and intense flooding that destroyed or severely damaged around 170,000 homes. ShelterBox partnered with a local aid organisation focusing on helping people build emergency shelters with corrugated iron sheeting, timber, bamboo, rope and fixings; to support with rebuilding, they also gave cash assistance to help families transport aid items and hire local tradespeople to help them build homes.

Yemen
Yemen is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises as is a result of the bitter civil war, starvation, and a failing economy. A 2022 ceasefire came to an end in October 2024. The conflict has internally displaced 4.5 million people since 2015. ShelterBox have previously provided people who are newly displaced with a UN family tent as well as water filters, blankets, sleeping mats, solar lights, mosquito nets, water carriers, washing facilities and kitchen sets. They are now working to provide households with more durable shelters known as ‘iron net’ shelters which consist of an iron net frame on a concrete base, thermal insulation and a corrugated steel outer shell as well as priority shelter items such as mattresses and blankets. Shelter kits containing tarpaulin and rope were also made available to those affected by sudden onset disasters, such as flooding.

Ukraine
ShelterBox continued to respond with aid in Ukraine and have helped more than 37,000 people so far not only those displaced within Ukraine but also refugees who crossed the border into Moldova. They are currently concentrating on supporting people through the bitter winter months reaching around 30,000 more people with essential items - thermal blankets, clothing, and emergency repair kits (which will help people fix damaged roofs, seal windows and doors, keep the heat in and make homes watertight) to help them survive.

Caribbean
In July 2024 Hurricane Beryl left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean islands. Entire communities were living out in the open or in overcrowded buildings like schools. ShelterBox are partnered with Rotary to get emergency shelter aid and other essential items more than 600 families in Grenada where, most buildings, homes and schools, were damaged or destroyed.  This aid included tents as well as essential items like mosquito nets, solar lights, and cooking sets.

ShelterBox have also responded in Cameroon, Chad and Burkino Faso providing for people displaced by the conflict and climate crises more permanent durable shelter that can withstand long-term use and weathering over time.