Press release – 1 June 2017
Richard Loat has dual nationality, but a single-minded approach to how sport can unite international development.
An energetic and experienced volunteer for UK disaster relief charity ShelterBox, you may well catch him running beside the Thames near his home in Hammersmith
In a little over two weeks Richard Loat will be flying to Mozambique for UK disaster relief agency ShelterBox. He and fellow response team volunteer Nicola Hinds from Ulster are going to assess the charity’s work since powerful Cyclone Dineo struck on 15 February.
Dineo was the first tropical cyclone to hit the coast of Mozambique for almost a decade. Seven people were killed, including a child crushed by a falling tree in Massinga. After the storm abated an estimated 130,000 people were in need of assistance, and ShelterBox distributed its highly-portable shelter kits containing tarpaulins, tools and fixings.
Richard Loat joined ShelterBox in 2010, and has since been to Sudan, the Philippines, Serbia, Zimbabwe and Nepal helping families to stay safe and sheltered after disasters.
ShelterBox are experts in emergency shelter, but also supply basic rebuilding materials, water filtration, solar lighting, and kitchen equipment and blankets to make a tent into a home, however temporary.
Richard says, ‘With regards to the upcoming trip to Mozambique, I think it’s going to be a really good one.
‘Often, the assumption is that ShelterBox response volunteers are only banging up tents, but of equal importance is the follow-up and making sure that the help we’ve given is the right help.
‘It’ll be my first monitoring and evaluation trip, but in that regard I’m definitely looking forward to growing as a volunteer.
‘I think the more deployments I can get under my belt, the better for ShelterBox.’
Richard lives in Stamford Brook, Hammersmith, but he has also lived in Vancouver in his other dual-nationality home, Canada.
When not deploying to disasters with ShelterBox he can be found chasing sports to every corner of the globe. He has a passion for triathlons, particularly ‘Ironman’ races.
Richard adds, ‘And when I’m not doing that, I’m probably chasing down surf on a beach somewhere.
‘With a history as a serial social entrepreneur, right now I’m working with Comic Relief, championing sport for development work across the globe.
‘I emigrated from Canada to London four years ago, and can often be found running along the Thames from my home in Hammersmith.’
NOTES TO EDITORS
We can connect you with Richard Loat for interviews. Please arrange via [email protected]
There are now more than 113 million people around the world forced from their homes due to disasters or conflict, the greatest number since WW2. ShelterBox is a UK charity, and a world authority on providing innovative, rapid and practical shelter to families in some of the world’s hardest-to-reach places and most devastated disaster zones. Since its start in 2000 it’s helped more than one million people worldwide rebuild their lives, and it now has affiliate ShelterBox operations across Europe, Africa, Americas and Asia. More info at www.shelterbox.org.
