Siân Brooke joins The Glacier Trust

We're very excited to announce that star of stage and screen, Siân Brooke, has joined The Glacier Trust as our new ambassador! 

Sian Brooke has had an incredible 12 months. She is one of the UK's most talented actors. In the space of just one year, she had starred alongside Benedict Cumberbatch TWICE, first as Ophelia in the critically acclaimed Hamlet at the Barbican theatre and then as Eurus Holmes, Sherlock's long lost and slightly terrifying sister. More recently she has starred in another BBC drama, Doctor Foster and you may have caught her in the wonderful mini-series The Moorside alongside Sheridan Smith back in February. Sian has barely been off our screens, we are incredibly fortunate that she has made time to support our work and help raise our profile.  

We spoke to Sian, asking her thoughts on Climate Change and the work of The Glacier Trust: 

Climate Change is so often talked about as something that will have an impact 'in the future', but it is already affecting people's lives and we need to help them today. The Glacier Trust is doing this in Nepal, enabling some of the most remote Himalayan communities to adapt to the changing conditions; it is great to be involved. 

We need to do more to raise awareness and support for those already suffering from Climate Change.

We will keep you updated on Sian's work and involvement with the charity in the coming months. She sent us a few snaps of our exclusive T-Shirts. You can buy one of your own through our online store. 

Welcome Sian, it is fantastic to have you on board!

On giving

The truly inspired School of Life popped up in our inbox this afternoon with some wisdom on 'Gifts for Life, not just for Christmas'. Now that we have our own little online shop, we thought that it was worth sharing a couple of paragraphs: 

The arrival of winter has a habit of making us feel particularly closed off from the world. The blustery cold and drawn-out nights fill us with the instinct to retreat, to seek shelter and warmth, as well as distraction from the goings-on of a busy social calendar.

And yet, since this is such an important time of year for exchanging gifts, we also must think carefully about the needs and unspoken desires of those around us. When buying gifts for others, there can be a strong temptation to seek out things which appeal to our sense of glamour or luxury, even though – on some level – we know the recipient might prefer a present which carries more emotional and psychological significance.

The School of Life has its own fantastic range of gifts, well worth exploring. We have a range of T-Shirts that we hope might find their way into the stockings of your nearest and dearest. We're also partnered with the Alpine Club who are donating £1 from the sale of every pack of their stunning Christmas Cards to our work. 

What is Agro Forestry and how does in help Nepal?

The Agro Forestry Resource Centre in Deusa, fifty miles south of Mount Everest, is one of our proudest achievements. We interviewed Til Bahadur Rai and Keshab Rai to find out how they felt about what has been achieved there so far. They explain what Agro forestry is, why the centre is needed in Deusa and tell us how the community has benefited over the last three years. It is a great insight into the difference our work is making in Nepal, enabling some of the most vulnerable communities to adapt to the impacts of Climate Change. These fantastic outcomes are only possible with your support.

The Glacier Trust featured in Third Sector magazine

Our Co-Director Morgan Phillips has written a guest column for Third Sector magazine.  We will publish in full here in a week or so, meanwhile, here is a snippet: 

Medium and large charities, because of their bureaucracies, are not as agile as businesses of a similar size or smaller charities. They move slowly, especially in reaction to external changes and shocks; failing to react, to change, to innovate. It can occasionally be fatal for an organisation. This is not news to many in the third sector I’m sure, but the tortoise-like nature of some international aid charities is not the only reason they lack agility and suffer when the world moves. 

The Glacier Trust online T-Shirt shop opens today

Last month we produced a short run of T-Shirts for our five #TeamTGT Velo Birmingham cyclists. People loved them and asked if they could buy a T-Shirt for themselves. So today, with the help of the brilliant Teemill platform, we are officially opening our online T-Shirt shop!

We are starting off with a small range of T-Shirts that feature the iconic TGT logo and celebrate the theme of Climate Change adaptation. They are available in a range of colours and on T-Shirts to fit children and adults. 

The T-Shirts are sold through Teemill who print T-Shirts on demand and ship them straight to your door. This is a wonderful online platform and perfect for small charities like ours. There are no upfront costs, no minimum orders, no postage or payment transfers to deal with and a fantastic, easy to use, website that makes the design process very simple. The Glacier Trust receives proceeds from every T-Shirt sold, this varies depending on the colour of the T-Shirt (trade secret: we receive more if you buy a white T-Shirt), but it is enough to make a difference to our work - especially if everyone in your family gets a TGT T-Shirt for Christmas this year!

The other great thing about Teemill is that the designs are printed on Rapanui T-Shirts. They are made from certified organic or bamboo and made in an ethically accredited, wind powered factory. They feel great too, super soft and lightweight. 

We will be doing a bigger launch next month, so please look out for that, but in the meantime, please browse the online shop and select a T-Shirt or two for you or a loved one. And do please send us your feedback, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the t-shirts, the shop, the buying process and this initiative as a whole

How women are disproportionately impacted by Climate Change

On the path to Waku in Solukhumbo, February 2017. The Glacier Trust is working with Eco Himal Nepal in Waku to enable families to adapt to the impacts of climate change. 

Earlier this month ICIMOD published a very important paper on the gender imbalances experienced in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region. Noting that the situation is particularly acute in Nepal, this article from Juhi Chaudhary for thethirdpole.net provides an excellent summary of the report and its findings. 

Juhi Chaudary:

Gender structures and deeply entrenched socio-cultural ideologies that marginalise women’s work make women more vulnerable than men. Mountain women, who have great a resilience and the knowledge to adapt to various stresses, are often left out of key decision-making processes and are marginalised further, even though they are likely to suffer more in the future. Climate change is bound to increase these gender inequalities further in many ways.

The Glacier Trust recognises and addresses these gender issues in project design and delivery, but we are acutely aware of the need for fundamental structural solutions to gender inequality in Nepal and worldwide. 

Velo Birmingham Gallery

On Sunday 24th, five cyclists took on the 100 mile Velo Birmingham cycle ride to raise funds for The Glacier Trust. It was a fantastic event, 15,000 people riding and thousands more on the side of the road supporting. Here is a gallery of images from the day. 

#TeamTGT at the start line. From L-R: Paul, Ed, Matt, Morgan and Marc. 

If you would like to do a sponsored event on behalf of The Glacier Trust, please get in touch.

Velo Birmingham - Live Tracker

See how our Velo Birmingham cyclists are progressing on this brilliant live tracker. To find your favourite rider, please login to the live tracker and search by name or number. 

Morgan Phillips: 11822
Matthew Rendell: 11823
Marc Bozdogan: 11810
Paul Ashley: 11851
Edward Lewsey: 13834

A video from Practical Action on the Nepal Floods

Last week we told you about the early warning system that was put into action in Nepal during the floods in August. Practical Action have produced a short video showing the extent of the flooding and the response.