Local community support during COVID-19 pandemic

Exodus Travels' Community Kickstart Project

The Exodus Travels Foundation was established in March 2019 to help fund long-term, sustainable projects around the world. 2020 has seen the global tourism industry devastated and it is the communities at grass-roots levels who are most affected. It is only by working together as a global community, that we can rebuild the industry, changing things for the better.

In response, the Foundation launched the Community Kickstart Project to help support these communities who are without incomes until tourists return. Using the expertise of the Exodus Travels network, anyone from tour guides and operators, to hotel owners can apply for a grant of between £200 and £1,000 to be invested in community-based initiatives that will create a positive impact locally, be that environmental, economic, or social. This will support communities in need, helping them recover and rebuild, ready for the return of tourism.

Exodus Travels has already committed £10,000 to the fund and is aiming to double this by the end of 2020 through donations to its fundraising campaign.

One of the Kickstart initiatives supported by the project is in Nepal. Karma, a member of the Exodus team in Nepal, owns a bakery in Kathmandu and gives excess food to those on the streets most in need. The grant is supporting him to expand his efforts and to employ Exodus’ local tour leaders in distributing 50 packed meals every day to street children, the homeless, and other vulnerable people across the city.

Further initiatives are being supported in Namibia, Peru, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Indonesia and India, with more to follow as the fund is increased.

For more information on the initiatives supported by the Kickstart Project, please visit https://www.exodus.co.uk/foundation/kickstart.