Queen Camilla delighted to retain ShelterBox Patronage
We are deeply honored to announce that Camillia, The Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, will continue as Patron of ShelterBox – following a major review of more than 1,000 patronages.
The review, conducted by the Royal Household, follows the late Queen’s death, with this week’s announcement marking the first anniversary of Their Majesties’ Coronation.
“Our volunteers, supporters, and staff will be brimming with pride that Her Majesty The Queen will continue to honor us with her patronage,” says ShelterBox Chief Executive, Sanj Srikanthan, responding to the news.
“It comes at a particularly poignant time for our charity as we approach our 25th anniversary.”
ShelterBox has supported almost three million people in around 100 countries since it was founded by a Cornish Rotary club in 2000.
Srikanthan adds, “With more people displaced around the world than ever before, and the need for shelter growing all the time, we’re looking ahead to the next 25 years, and it means so much to our community that Her Majesty continues to have faith and support in what we do.”
“It also means we’re scaling up our work to reach more people and adapting the types of aid we provide in different responses.”
“Often people don’t have time to recover from one disaster before the next one hits, so our commitment stands firm – listening to communities and providing emergency shelter to people uprooted from their homes”, Srikanthan expresses.
Her Majesty, alongside His Majesty, the King (then the Prince of Wales), first encountered ShelterBox in 2006 during an official visit to Pakistan. They were introduced to our mission of helping families who lost their homes in the Kashmiri earthquake.
Since, The Queen has been a dedicated supporter of the organization’s work; from hosting receptions for the organization at the Clarence House, to prominently featuring the ShelterBox in the humanitarian reception at Buckingham Palace, in 2023.
The Queen’s well-known love of reading led her to support the ShelterBox Book Club and write a forward for “Tamesis Street,” a short story told by 30 authors about a fictional climate disaster in London.
Her Majesty has visited the ShelterBox’s headquarters in Truro, Cornwall, several times, including in 2017 when she cut a cake to mark her 70th birthday.
With over 20 years of experience, ShelterBox specializes in providing emergency shelter after disaster and conflict – going places others don’t reach to ensure families get the support they need to rebuild their lives. No longer providing aid in green boxes, ShelterBox is now providing a combination of aid packaged in different ways to suit what people need.
This can mean distribution of tents, tarpaulins, and essential items like solar lights, mosquito nets, and water filters. But it can also mean building concrete bases in places that repeatedly flood like in Pakistan and Syria; providing hurricane strapping to make timber shelters more robust in the Philippines, using iron frames and fireproof insulation for shelters in Yemen, as well as wooden frame Sahelian tents to withstand local climates in Burkina Faso.
Currently, ShelterBox is responding to the conflict in Gaza and severe flooding in Malawi. The Royal Family serves as Patrons for over 3,000 charities and organizations worldwide.
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For more information contact the press office at ShelterBox via [email protected].
Notes to Editors
- Images and captions included.
- Interviews available with ShelterBox CEO Sanj Srikanthan.
- The Former Duchess of Cornwall was President of ShelterBox from August 2007 to May 2021, changing to Patron from May 2021 to September 2022.
About ShelterBox
ShelterBox provides emergency shelter and other essential items to families who have lost their homes to disasters. With operational headquarters in Cornwall, the charity also has 13 affiliate organizations worldwide, including ShelterBox USA being based out of Santa Barbara, CA. The charity has been Rotary International’s project partner in disaster relief since 2012. ShelterBox has supported nearly 3 million people since it was founded in 2000.