Student prepares for life-changing expedition with help from Orion Homes

Posted on November 27th 2019

A student from Shelley College is preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime expedition to carry out environmental work in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands with help from sponsorship provided by Orion Homes.

Cara Spedding is the daughter of Orion Homes Site Manager, Ian Spedding, and we were happy to donate £250 towards the £5,000 she needs to fund her trip. Cara will be heading out to South America in the summer of 2020 as part of the Camp Ecuador volunteer project run by Camps International, a social enterprise which is devoted to making the world a better place through various humanitarian, conservation and environmental initiatives.  Cara is making solid progress towards her fundraising target and she is currently welcoming donations via her sponsorship page – please click here for details.

Cara said:

“The projects we will be working on will have a life-changing impact on the community, wildlife and the environment. We will be visiting the Amazon rainforest, planting trees and doing the best we can to help them grow, as an area the size of Spain is lost to deforestation every year in the Amazon. We will help people who live in poverty by building vital facilities for the community, including classrooms for the children. Twenty five per cent of children there have no access to education and are malnourished, but we can help them. We will also be visiting the Galapagos Islands to work on conservation projects to protect the ecosystem.”

Camps International has long-term commitments to a range of vulnerable communities worldwide through their volunteering trips. At any one time, the programme may be working on more than 100 different humanitarian, environmental and conservation initiatives worldwide, delivering impact through responsible tourism. Its core funding is complemented by financial support from the Camps Foundation charitable organisation.

Orion Homes Sales Manager, Nikki Mallender, said:

“When Ian mentioned what Cara was doing, we had no hesitation in sponsoring her. Cara clearly has a desire to make a difference and she is very motivated to raise the funds for her expedition. It’s a very admirable and worthwhile initiative, providing vital social and environmental project work in areas of economic need and ecological significance.”

Ian is currently overseeing the construction of a range of luxury detached properties at Orion Homes’ Vicarage Meadows development in Holmfirth. Further details on Vicarage Meadows are available here.