Charity expeditions aren’t racist and they’re not cheap holidays

In Durham, expedition to charity projects applications are coming round and it’s reignited the the debate about how useful they really are. 

I’ve been on and led expedition and am now DUCK Expeditions Officer so you might expect what I’m about to say: they’re not a holiday for rich kids.

These charity get aways are not the white middle class dominated “holidays” that people claim when they hear about DUCK. Like me, there are plenty of working class people and yes plenty of middle and upper class people that just want to get involved.

We’re not the equivalent of the Bullingdon Club – Daddy doesn’t need to be earning seven figures. People pay for it like anything else. Some fundraise for it in fancy dress and other people actually borrow and pay it off later.

The classic slacktivist view that charity expeditions are all about the good profile picture is a load of shit. My Machu Picchu profile picture does prove that I went to Peru, but working in a foreign country or doing a trek isn’t the standard definition of a holiday.

When holidays are mentioned people normally go for the lads schlep to Magaluf, Kavos or Malia, not working with children for four weeks before coming back to gloomy Durham weather.

“But shouldn’t charity start at home?” The types of people who say this are the types that have never given money to a beggar in their life. What are you doing to make the UK a better place and make the lives of disadvantaged people in Britain any better?

Charities offer expeditions because they’re matched with decent donations. In DUCK each participant raises £1000 that goes directly to the charity and without the expedition, would this £1000 still be donated? Some charities do waste money, but that isn’t an argument against expeditions, that’s an argument against charity mismanagement.

Expeditions offer something that other events don’t. They push people out of comfort zones and enhance your cultural know-how. They teach you how to deal with situations that you wouldn’t necessarily experience in your boring Durham life.

On top of all that, you will make some of your best mates as a result of going through these experiences together.

So yes expeditions are not perfect: nothing is. But the £100, 000 they raise every year for a whole bunch of international charities can’t be a bad thing, can it?

If you want to get involved the Expeditions Fair is on 24th October at the DSU Bar at 14:00-17:00. With free Chiquotos.