HRH THE PRINCESS ROYAL PRAISES TRANSPORT CHARITY TRANSAID’S ROAD SAFETY EFFORTS
20 November 2014
Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal praised the life-saving work of international development charity Transaid, after the organisation revealed at its annual showcase it is now delivering more programmes in more countries to help improve road safety than ever before.
As patron of the charity The Princess Royal addressed a room of transport and logistics professionals in Canary Wharf yesterday (Wednesday, 19 November). She said: “When Transaid first started it was very much following the Save the Children’s ‘Stop Polio’ campaign, where logistics and transport were crucial to the delivery of the vaccine and it was the idea of getting expertise into the system that created Transaid.
“Transaid has taken on that role, but also has a real understanding of where you can make a difference through organising better transport and logistics, as well as through driver training – and that has really stood the test of time, in terms of the quality of its work and people coming back for more advice.”
The charity shared a number of shocking figures at the event which was sponsored by Barclays, including approximately 1.24 million people are killed on roads worldwide each year. This figure equates to 3,500 road-related deaths every day, and around 3,000 of those killed are from developing countries. The Princess Royal called the figures frightening, stating it was ‘horrific’ that more people die from road traffic accidents than Malaria in Africa.
Transaid also used the occasion to highlight some of its main achievements over the past 12 months, including receiving a £1.89 million grant from Comic Relief to help improve maternal health in Zambia, the addition of two new corporate members, Yusen Logistics and Malcolm Logistics – the charity also celebrated the fundraising efforts of its supporters who took part in its London to Brussels bike ride in September raising £67,000.
Acting Chief Executive Caroline Barber said: “Transaid has had a very successful 12 months, running projects in seven countries. At Buckingham Palace last year we announced the award of a substantial grant from Comic Relief for our emergency transport work in Nigeria. That programme is going extremely well despite the security challenges in the north of the country. So far over 700 drivers have received comprehensive emergency transport training and as I speak are busy performing their roles as ‘lifesavers’ in their communities.”
For more information or to find out how you can support the charity visit www.transaid.org.
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Note to Editor:
Transaid (www.transaid.org) is an international development agency that aims to improve people’s quality of life in the developing world by making transport more available and affordable. It was founded by Save the Children and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK) and works by sharing skills and knowledge with local people to enable them to put in place and manage efficient transport systems.
Transaid’s core work includes creating transport management systems for the public sector and assisting with the provision of professional driving qualification development and the training of driver trainers. It also assists with teaching preventive vehicle maintenance management and introducing local, low cost transport solutions including its innovative bicycle ambulance. Transaid also helps promote road safety awareness and shares its specialist knowledge with the humanitarian aid sector.
Transaid enjoys strong backing from the transport and logistics industry and the active involvement of its patron, HRH The Princess Royal.
For further press information:
Aggie Krasnolucka-Hickman at Transaid +44 (0)20 7387 8136
Faye McBride or James Keeler at Garnett Keeler +44 (0)20 8647 4467
TRAN/253/14
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