Outbound travel industry supports Latin American charities

LATA foundation donates £50,000 to social and environmental initiatives

In 2017, the LATA Foundation has donated £50,000 to a range of grassroots social and environmental initiatives in Latin America making it the most successful donor year to date for the charity.

Created by the Latin America travel industry in the UK, the LATA Foundation’s mission is to support grassroots projects throughout Latin America to help to transform lives, supply clean water, dental or medical support and offer practical training and skills to empower local communities.

Since it was formed, The LATA Foundation has donated in excess of £223,000 to a wide range of projects in Latin America. 

In 2017, LATA has donated to 13 initiatives. Examples include:

The Condor Trust, Ecuador

An educational initiative enabling young Ecuadorians from low income families to attend secondary school and/ or have access to higher education.

The LATA Foundation has provided funds for the provision of uniforms, books and school materials. Now some of the first students taken on during the early years of the project have graduated from university and flourish in professional jobs, demonstrating how successful the whole cycle of support can be.‘¯

Vidarte Space, Brazil

Vidarte Space has several projects to help underprivileged children from the favelas of Rio de Janerio. Their main project, the Vidancar Dance School, is located in the Complexo do Alemao favela. It began in 2009 as an initiative to offer children from the favelas the opportunity to express themselves through the art of ballet. The school also provides other activities that these children wouldn’t normally have access to.

The LATA Foundation is currently supporting the dance and football projects at Vidarte Space and thanks to the support of LATA Foundation donor Las Iguanas, has been able to install a new dance floor, mirrors and ballet barres.

Picaflor House, Peru

Picalor House is an educational charity working in the small town of Oropesa and other villages in the surrounding rural area 25km outside of Cusco, Peru, to provide after-school support to students and families. Picaflor also supports the local community through hygiene programmes, taps for teeth washing and stoves for local families, having a far-reaching positive impact on the wider community.

Chris Pickard, Chairman of the LATA Foundations says;

"We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our supporters.  Partnering with the LATA Foundation is an excellent way to support local communities and the environment in Latin America. Our projects are thoroughly vetted and closely monitored to ensure that funds are going where they are most needed. 

Latin America is a very colourful and vibrant continent and increasingly popular for holidays. We would encourage all companies that operate within the region, as well as individuals looking to travel to Latin America to take a look at some of our projects and think about how they might be able to give back."

Valere Tjolle

@ValereTjolle