Stuff Your Rucksack Panel Session

Stuff Your Rucksack is a UK based charitable website that acts as a message board, creating an online discussion between travellers and small charitable organisations around the world that need things a traveller could easily bring with them on their holiday and can help the communities the traveller visits – for instance books and pencils, toys and clothes.

In this session Kate Humble - journalist, broadcaster and founder of Stuff Your Rucksack will interview several travelers on their experiences of participating in the Stuff Your Rucksack initiative.

INTERVIEWEES:

Hannah Smith
Hannah’s big thing is social impact. She’s spent 10 years working in the charity and social innovation sectors and likes nothing more than seeing new organisations (as well as people!) flourish. At present she works on a freelance basis developing and supporting social ventures.

She also serves on the board of pioneering fair trade retail organisation, One World Shop and acts as an Ambassador for award-winning youth development charity READ International.
She is currently honing her entrepreneurial skills as part of the inaugural cohort on the MA in Social Entrepreneurship at Goldsmiths, University of London. 

In December 2010 Hannah, along with her best friend Rachael, travelled for the first time to Nepal to experience trekking in the Annapurna region of the Himalaya.  Prior to the trip another friend introduced them to stuffyourruckscak.com and suggested they take part in the initiative. They found Nepal Schools Aid on the website, got in touch with the organisation who recommended they pack some education materials for an Early Learning Centre, which they visited during their travels.

Mark Wright
Mark Wright is the Senior Southeast Asia Specialist at Ampersand Travel. He has been interested in learning about different cultures from a young age. His breakthrough travelling experience was a trip to Tibet & China at the age of 17, where he trekked to the base camp of Mt. Everest and along the Great Wall of China. Ever since, he has continued to explore many countries and learn their customs, with Cambodia topping his list so far.

In 2011 he visited Cambodia for two weeks to research the area for his work. He had heard of Stuff Your Rucksack, and decided to visit the Cambodia Landmine Museum which is listed on the website. On a second trip Mark stocked up on various goods the project required before departing the UK and during the trip Mark bought some sports equipment to add to the more basic supplies of clothes and shoes that the organisation requested. Since his involvement with Stuff Your Rucksack, when planning a trip Mark is inspired to take things to give to people less fortunate.

Erica Wren
Until Erica was 25 the furthest she had been from her Suffolk home was Liverpool. Then she had the chance to go to Switzerland as the soloist with an English choir, and became hooked on travel.

In November 2008, Erica and her husband visited friends in Gambia to go birdwatching.  They found the poverty a revelation and offered to sponsor the education of the daughter of one of the workers where they were staying and were told about GETS, a British charity which would administer the funding for them. Through their involvement with GETS Erica and Tony later took over a community education compound in Serekunda, in Gambia.

While travelling to Gambia, for her work Erica was told about StuffYourRucksack by a lady taking clothes and footballs to a charity she had found on the website. On her return home she looked up stuff your Rucksack and posted information about the GETS' "Sunrise Centre". It has since had visitors delivering things the teachers and pupils need right now.  Proving that Stuff Your Rucksack “does what it says on the tin" - puts travellers in touch with local people who need their help.

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