Altruistic adventures
HELP FOR BEARS
Naturetrek donates 10 per cent of income to a number of charities with whom it organises tours. For example, since 2005 it has been working with International Animal Rescue (IAR), offering fund-raising tours to India, which include a visit to the IAR bear sanctuary near Agra.
IAR’s successful long-term campaign has been to banish ‘dancing bears’ on the streets of India. A tailor-made 10-day tour including the bear sanctuary, the Taj Mahal, Ranthambore tiger reserve and Bharatpur bird sanctuary, costs from £2,295 per person, including flights and expert guiding.
01962-733051, www.naturetrek.co.uk
MACMILLAN SUPPORT
Premier Cottages’s charity for 2014 is Macmillan Cancer, for which the collection’s members have already raised more than £52,000 by donating holidays in their cottages used as prizes in its fundraising, and other initiatives such as long-distance bike rides, dinners and coffee mornings. There are also collection boxes in some of the properties. Premier Cottages is a cooperative of around 1,000 independent, self-catering holiday cottages in the British Isles, including the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands.
www.premiercottages.co.uk
TASMANIAN DEVILS
Australians are fighting to save the Tasmanian Devil, a carnivorous marsupial that’s been struck by a deadly disease. Tasmanian Odyssey supports charities including the Save The Tasmanian Devil appeal, and offers a sevennight trip to Tasmania with flights from Melbourne to Hobart (but not international flights), from £1,695 per person. The trip includes four nights in Hobart, a private tour of Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, to meet the adorable little creatures, and three-night fully guided all-inclusive Maria Island Walk, where, in quarantine, a wild, breeding population has settled.
01534-735449, www.tasmanianodyssey.com
SCHOOL FOR RANGERS
Africa specialist Aardvark Safaris, currently celebrating its 15th anniversary, works in partnership with the Tusk Trust and supports the Koiyaki Guide School in the Masai Mara, Kenya.
Donations have helped train local rangers, allowing communities to benefit from the wildlife they live alongside. Aardvark Safaris offers a seven-night safari in two wildlife areas of Kenya, including a four-night stay in the Masai Mara at Kicheche Bush Camp where graduates of the Koiyaki Guide School work, and a visit to the school itself. From £3,995 per person, including flights.
01980-849160, www.aardvarksafaris.co.uk
WORLDWIDE CHARITY
UK tour operator DialAFlight has its own charity, Make My Day Better. Ten per cent of profits are used to support projects worldwide, such as providing fishing boats for Sri Lankan fishermen who lost everything in the devastating tsunami of 2004.
To date more than £2m has been raised. DialAFlight offers a 10-night Scenic Sri Lanka tour, from £852 per person excluding flights, which takes in the rock fortress of Sigiriya, bustling Kandy, the elephant orphanage at Pinawela and the colonial hill town of Nuware Eliya and its picturesque tea plantations.
0844-556 6060, www.dialaflight.com
Contact Wendy at wendy.gomersall@lady.co.uk
Naturetrek donates 10 per cent of income to a number of charities with whom it organises tours. For example, since 2005 it has been working with International Animal Rescue (IAR), offering fund-raising tours to India, which include a visit to the IAR bear sanctuary near Agra.
IAR’s successful long-term campaign has been to banish ‘dancing bears’ on the streets of India. A tailor-made 10-day tour including the bear sanctuary, the Taj Mahal, Ranthambore tiger reserve and Bharatpur bird sanctuary, costs from £2,295 per person, including flights and expert guiding.
01962-733051, www.naturetrek.co.uk
MACMILLAN SUPPORT
Premier Cottages’s charity for 2014 is Macmillan Cancer, for which the collection’s members have already raised more than £52,000 by donating holidays in their cottages used as prizes in its fundraising, and other initiatives such as long-distance bike rides, dinners and coffee mornings. There are also collection boxes in some of the properties. Premier Cottages is a cooperative of around 1,000 independent, self-catering holiday cottages in the British Isles, including the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands.
www.premiercottages.co.uk
TASMANIAN DEVILS
Australians are fighting to save the Tasmanian Devil, a carnivorous marsupial that’s been struck by a deadly disease. Tasmanian Odyssey supports charities including the Save The Tasmanian Devil appeal, and offers a sevennight trip to Tasmania with flights from Melbourne to Hobart (but not international flights), from £1,695 per person. The trip includes four nights in Hobart, a private tour of Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, to meet the adorable little creatures, and three-night fully guided all-inclusive Maria Island Walk, where, in quarantine, a wild, breeding population has settled.
01534-735449, www.tasmanianodyssey.com
SCHOOL FOR RANGERS
Africa specialist Aardvark Safaris, currently celebrating its 15th anniversary, works in partnership with the Tusk Trust and supports the Koiyaki Guide School in the Masai Mara, Kenya.
Donations have helped train local rangers, allowing communities to benefit from the wildlife they live alongside. Aardvark Safaris offers a seven-night safari in two wildlife areas of Kenya, including a four-night stay in the Masai Mara at Kicheche Bush Camp where graduates of the Koiyaki Guide School work, and a visit to the school itself. From £3,995 per person, including flights.
01980-849160, www.aardvarksafaris.co.uk
WORLDWIDE CHARITY
UK tour operator DialAFlight has its own charity, Make My Day Better. Ten per cent of profits are used to support projects worldwide, such as providing fishing boats for Sri Lankan fishermen who lost everything in the devastating tsunami of 2004.
To date more than £2m has been raised. DialAFlight offers a 10-night Scenic Sri Lanka tour, from £852 per person excluding flights, which takes in the rock fortress of Sigiriya, bustling Kandy, the elephant orphanage at Pinawela and the colonial hill town of Nuware Eliya and its picturesque tea plantations.
0844-556 6060, www.dialaflight.com
Contact Wendy at wendy.gomersall@lady.co.uk