Useful Links

The following is a list of links to sites you may find useful when planning your holiday. Please note ABTA Protection only applies to ABTA members' sites:

DOCUMENTS & HEALTH

Fit For Travel

Detailed health advice regarding specific countries provided by the NHS (Scotland).
www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk

Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel

Official Foreign Office travel advice based on up-to-the-minute information.
www.fco.gov.uk

The Aviation Health Institute

The world's first independent medical research charity that promotes the health and well-being of passengers worldwide, the site includes advice and a selection of airline accessories for healthy flying.
www.aviation-health.org

Docleaf - Crisis Management Services

Docleaf is a leader in the field of Operational Risk Management including, Crisis Management, Business Continuity Planning and Overseas Health and Safety. We offer brand protection and round the clock response services to businesses and organisations both in the UK and Worldwide.
www.docleaf.com

UK Passport Service

The United Kingdom Passport Service (UKPS) site aims to assist new applicants and existing passport holders by providing information and online facilities for all aspects of application, renewal and amendments of passports for British nationals resident in the UK.
www.ukpa.gov.uk

CURRENCY, TIME & WEATHER

Currency Converter

Find out the latest currency rates and use the online currency converter.
www.timeanddate.com

World Weather

Up-to-date five-day weather forecast.
www.weather.travel-guides.com/worldwideweather.htm

BBC Weather

Online guide to world weather.
www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world

Gatwick Hotels

Hotels around Gatwick Airport.
www.gatwick-hotels-lgw.com

GUIDEBOOKS & ACCESSORIES

World Travel Guide

Comprehensive online guide to countries including information on currency, weather, visas, food and drink, shopping and more.
www.wtg-online.com

Stanfords

The UK's leading specialist retailer of maps and travel books.
www.stanfords.co.uk

Footprint Guides

80 travel guides to destinations in five continents.
www.footprintbooks.com

Lonely Planet Guides

Guidebooks, phrasebooks, maps, gifts and more.
www.lonelyplanet.com

Travelling Light

Hot weather travel clothing for men and women and travel accessories.
www.travellinglight.com

Travelling2

Travel clothing and accessories.
www.travelling2.co.uk

National Map Centre

Maps, atlases, globes, travel guides and more.
www.mapsnmc.co.uk

Whatsonwhen.com

Guide to festivals and events taking place around the world.
www.whatsonwhen.com

RESPONSIBLE TOURISM

Carbon Reponsible

We encourage those who travel with Cox & Kings to offset their carbon emissions via Carbon Responsible. To calculate the cost of offsetting your flight please follow the link below to the Cox & Kings scheme and use the carbon emissions calculator. Cox & Kings offsets all carbon emissions for flights taken by our staff in the course of their work.
www.carbonresponsible.com/coxandkings/

CHARITIES COX & KINGS ARE PLEASED TO SUPPORT

AFRICA

Link Ethiopia, Ethiopia

Link Ethiopia has been working with schools in Ethiopia for over 10 years. Their belief is that education is the best way to help people out of poverty, and to this end they support schools around the country. As well as direct fundraising, the core of their work is building relationships and creating understanding between young people by linking schools in the UK with schools in Ethiopia. Vital resources such as clean drinking water, proper sanitation and classroom resources are just a few of the projects being funded by UK partner schools and Link Ethiopia.

Contact details: 4 Orchard Mews, Islington, London N1 5BS Tel: +44 (0) 20 7241 3544
website: www.linkethiopia.org
To Donate : Donations can be made on the website or payment can be sent to the above address.
Link Ethiopia is a UK Registered Charity no: 1112390.

Langa Development Fund, NamibiaThe Africat Foundation, Okonjima Cheetah Sanctuary, Namibia

The Africat Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 1992 to promote large carnivore conservation and animal welfare. The initial years were spent rescuing cheetahs and leopards from traps and housing orphaned cheetahs and leopards. Today the organisation has developed in all aspects of carnivore conservation. The sanctuary in Okonjima consists of approximately 500 hectares (1250 acres) fenced off enclosures and houses over 70 cheetahs, 6 lions, 5 leopards and 4 caracals. There is an on-site environmental education centre where local people are educated in environmental issues free of charge. In addition the Foundation’s veterinary clinic sees between 40 and 100 carnivores per year.

Contact Details: Okonjima, Africat Foundation, P.O Box 793, Otjiwarongo. Tel: + 264 651 4563. Fax: + 264 651 4565.
Website: www.africat.org Email: africat@mweb.com.na
To Donate: Donations to the Africat Foundation can be made through The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. 100% of all donations go directly to the project.

Save the Rhino Trust, Namibia

In the mid 1980s the World’s last remaining population of desert-adapted rhino, located in Namibia’s remote Damaraland province was reduced to approximately 30 animals. Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) was set up to work with government and local leaders to preserve the future of rhino in communal lands. Benefits received through tourism go to the local population. Today, due to their emphasis on working with village elders, community conservancy members, government officials and tourist concession holders, there is greatly increased local employment and rhino numbers have increased to between 100-200 animals, the largest population of wild black rhino outside a National Park.

Contact details: C/O David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation 61 Smithbrook Kilns, Cranleigh, Surrey, GU6 8JJ Tel: + 44 (0)1483 272323
Website: www.davidshepherd.org/project/000003/rhino/  Email: dswf@davidshepherd.org  
To donate: Donations to Save the Rhino Trust can be made through The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. 100% of all donations go directly to the project.
DSWF is a UK Registered Charity No. 289646.

Langa Development Forum, South Africa

The Langa Development Forum in Cape Town supports a number of development projects in the Langa township, including the Chris Hani Community School, housed in the ALTA hostels. This community-based school has specifically targeted children of the ALTA hostel dwellers (underemployed and unemployed immigrants from rural areas). Their programme seeks to take in functionally illiterate, culturally deprived children (aged 6 to 16) with limited language and social skills and transform them into school-ready learners who can be mainstreamed into the state-supported (public) education system.

Contact details : Tsoga Tourism Information and Environmental Resource Centre. Tel: +27 21 694 0004 Fax: +27 21 694 9813
To Donate : Please contact the charity for further information on how donations can be made.

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation – Uganda Conservation Foundation

Uganda's Queen Elizabeth Park and Ishasha Region, is home to nearly 1,000 elephants and is used as a migratory corridor for many more. After years of degradation and poaching, UCF works with the authorities and local communities to make the area a conservation and development success story and to tackle the human/elephant conflict problems.

Contact details : C/O David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation 61 Smithbrook Kilns, Cranleigh, Surrey, GU6 8JJ. Tel: + 44 (0)1483 272323
Website: www.davidshepherd.org/project/000001/crime/  Email: dswf@davidshepherd.org
To Donate : Donations to UCF can be made through The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. 100% of all donations go directly to the project.
DSWF is a UK Registered Charity No. 289646.

School Places, Uganda

School Places was set up to send children to secondary school in Uganda. Based in a beautiful, remote area, Kisoro, on the Rwanda/Congo border, it has been successful in bringing stability, peace and hope in a triangle where two corners have been deeply troubled. Only primary education is free but now children receive four years of uninterrupted secondary education allowing some students to go to university to study medicine, economics, IT and agriculture bringing expertise and skills back to their community. This is the home of the rare mountain gorilla, genetically so close to us, and is becoming a visitor attraction. By increased levels of education, School Places is ensuring the population benefits in terms of work and services created through this natural environmental gift.

Contact details : Macrocarpa, Macorcarpa Road, Ventnor, Isle of Wight PO38 1EB Tel: +44 (0)1983 855689
Email: fcgbenson@aol.com
To Donate : Please contact the charity for further information on how donations can be made.
School Places is a UK Registered Charity No. 1132156.

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation - FIGHTING ZAMBIA'S WAR AGAINST POACHING, Zambia

Wildlife conservation is a low on the Government's priority list for funding and so DSWF's support makes a vital contribution to Zambia's fight against poaching. Money is spent on equipment, fuel and rations for trusted anti-poaching teams and illegal trade investigators. Funds also support the Elephant Orphanage Project. DSWF is also in partnership with international organisations to develop a new Protection Project which will offer huge potential for wildlife conservation, training for wildlife scouts and employment for local Zambians in the Western Province including, it is hoped, Livingstone and Kafue.

Contact details : C/O David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation 61 Smithbrook Kilns, Cranleigh, Surrey, GU6 8JJ Tel: + 44 (0)1483 272323
Website: www.davidshepherd.org/project/000002/crime/  Email: dswf@davidshepherd.org  
To Donate : Donations to Zambia anti poaching can be made through The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. 100% of all donations go directly to the project.
DSWF is a UK Registered Charity No. 289646.

INDIA

Magic Bus, Mumbai, India

Cox & Kings actively supports Magic Bus, a charity set up by former Cox & Kings employee Matthew Spacie in January 1999. In India over 11 million children are living in slums or on the streets and over 50% are physically or sexually abused. Magic Bus provides positive role models for children and youth living in these extreme circumstances and uses sport as a medium to enable them to discover their true potential and find a purpose in life. It believes in their ability to take charge and change their future. The charity works with children aged between 7 to 18, taking them through an age and needs-based graduation programme that is specifically designed to focus on their personal and social development. The Magic Bus curriculum offers children the chance to build self-confidence, learn about health and hygiene and make informed choices. It encourages girls and boys to play together, breaking down gender barriers and influencing community development.
Magic Bus works in partnership with municipal schools, government institutions, other child-focused organizations and directly in slum communities. It is now an award-winning development organisation working with children and youth throughout India. By the end of 2010 the organisation will reach out to 140,000 children living in some of the most at risk and deprived circumstances in the world. The goal is to reach up to 600,000 in the next three years.

Contact details : 2nd Floor, Downstream Building, 1 London Bridge, London, SE1 9BG. Tel: +44(0) 20 7022 1980
Website: www.magicbusindia.org  Email: infouk@magicbusindia.org  
To Donate : Donations can be made either on the website or directly to the following bank account – CAF bank, Sort code: 40-52-40, account no. 00016995 To enable Magic Bus to be able to plan its programme effectively, based on a secure budget, we encourage you to set up a monthly donation to the charity.
Magic Bus is a UK Registered Charity No. 1124753

Asha Sadan, India

Asha Sadan is a rescue home for destitute girls and homeless children. The majority of children who come to Asha Sadan begin their life without parental love and support and many are abandoned, or born when a mother is under emotional strain, either due to poverty or unwanted pregnancy. On average there are 60 young girls and 120 children housed at Asha Sadan. Education is offered to both children and girls. The latter participate in a literacy programme and a formal education programme if they have dropped out of school.

Contact details : Maharashtra State Women's Council (M.S.W.C.), Asha Sadan, Town Hall, (Asiatic Library Compound), Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Mumbai-400001, INDIA
To Donate : Payments can be made by cheque addressed to the President of M.S.W.C. and sent to the above address.

Disability and Development Partners (DDP), India

DDP helps disabled people - especially those who have suffered loss of limbs or use of limbs. Working with local partner organisations, DDP develops and promotes affordable and accessible rehabilitation services, using mobility aids and appliances such as the local cost Jaipur limb, which has been in use in India for over 30 years, and light weight plastic callipers for children suffering the effects of polio.
Disabled people are often from the poorest section of the population and only 2% of disabled children in developing countries are in formal schooling. The charity promotes economic and social programmes and the rights of disabled people as well as raising awareness about disability, poverty and development issues and the causes and prevention of disability. DDP's programme in rural Karnataka, South India, will help disabled and other poor children in 69 villages to receive a quality education.

Contact details : 404 Camden Road, London, N7 0SJ. Tel: +44 (0) 20 7700 7298
Website: www.ddpuk.org  Email: mail@ddpweb.org
To Donate : Please contact the charity or donate directly through the website.
DDP is a UK Registered Charity No. 1046001

Jaisalmer in Jeopardy, India

Jaisalmer in Jeopardy (JiJ) was established in 1996 by writer Sue Carpenter, to raise funds to protect the city’s heritage. Following an increase in water consumption, Jaisalmer’s ancient drainage system has almost collapsed, resulting in the saturation of the foundations of this fortress city. After the devastating monsoon of 1993, some 250 historic buildings were affected, including the oldest existing Rajput palace, the Rani-ka Mahal. JiJ has helped fund several restoration projects and increased awareness of the issue. Most importantly, it has promoted the need to protect Jaisalmer's historic architectural heritage among residents and the local authorities - a vital step for the sustainability of the city.

Contact details : 3 Brickbarn Close, London SW10 0TP, United Kingdom. Tel: + 44 (0)20 7352 4336.
Website: www.jaisalmer-in-jeopardy.org  Email: jaisalmerinfo@yahoo.co.uk  
To Donate : Please contact the charity for further information on how donations can be made.
Jaisalmer in Jeopardy is a UK Registered Charity No. 1055433

SMS Hospital, Jaipur, India

Sawai Mansingh Hospital was built by Maharaja Sawai Mansingh of Jaipur in 1945. After independence the hospital came under the management of the state government. Today, the hospital is the largest in the state and provides free medical services to the general public. The hospital has 1,563 beds and employs 255 doctors and 660 nursing staff.

Contact details : SMS Hospital, Jaipur, India.
To Donate : Donations can be made to the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur. Bank account no: 507315. Payments should be made to ‘Rajasthan Medicare Relief Society SMS Hospital Jaipur’.

Travel Operators for Tigers (TOFT)

Cox & Kings is delighted to be a member of the Travel Operators for Tigers (TOFT) initiative. The organisation has drawn up a code of conduct, which aims to put pressure on ground handlers, lodges and camps to act responsibly with regard to tiger conservation. It is a business-to-business initiative. We make a regular donation for every client who stays at a tiger lodge on their Cox & Kings holiday. Payment is made to a fund jointly managed by Global Tiger Patrol, a conservation agency prioritising protection of the tiger in the field, and the Environmental Investigation Agency.

Contact details : The Travel House, 51 Castle Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 1QD
Website: www.toftigers.org  Email: julian.matthews@toftigers.org  
To Donate : Please contact the charity for further information on how donations can be made.

NEPAL

The Fred Hollows Foundation, Nepal

The Fred Hollows Foundation (UK) is a registered charity which seeks to eradicate avoidable blindness in developing countries. Inspired by the work and example of the late Professor Fred Hollows, The Foundation was established in the United Kingdom in 1999 with a vision of a world where no one is needlessly blind. Currently the charity is committed to funding a new Community Eye Centre in Okhaldhunga, Nepal over the next 5 years. Eye Health programme activities will be developed in the future.

Contact details : 12-15 Crawford Mews, York Street, London, W1H 1LX. Tel: +44 (0) 207 298 2340 Fax: +44 (0) 207 724 2851
Website: www.hollows.org.uk/Nepal  Email: fhfuk@hollows.org  
To Donate : Please contact the charity or donate directly through the website.
The Fred Hollows Foundation is a UK Registered UK Charity No. 1074478

CHINA & THE FAR EAST

The Christina Noble Children's Foundation

The Christina Noble Children's Foundation is an International Partnership of people dedicated to serving children in need of emergency and long-term medical care, nutritional rehabilitation, educational opportunities, vocational training, job placement and the protection of children at risk of economic and sexual exploitation. The Foundation supports projects for homeless and the poorest of children in both Vietnam and Mongolia.
www.cncf.org

Animals Asia Foundation

The Animals Asia Foundation is an animal welfare charity based in Hong Kong, working in partnership with the Chinese Government to put an end to the bear farms which see over 7000 ‘Moon Bears’ incarcerated in small cages and milked daily, through open holes in their abdomen, for their bile which is used in Chinese medicine. In July 2000 Animals Asia signed a landmark agreement with the Chinese authorities to rescue 500 suffering and endangered Moon Bears from the worst bile farms in Sichuan province and work towards ending the barbaric practice of bear farming. Today, the China Bear Rescue has seen freedom for over 138 previously farmed Moon Bears at the Sanctuary in Chengdu, China, and the Sanctuary are pioneering an education programme across China to demonstrate why bear farming is cruel.
www.animalsasia.org

LATIN AMERICA

The Galapagos Conservation Trust

The Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT) is a UK registered charity set up in 1995 to raise funds for, and awareness of, the conservation needs of the Galapagos Islands. GCT is a part of an international Friends of Galapagos network that aims to conserve the ecosystems and biological diversity of the Galapagos archipelago.
www.gct.org

The Anita Goulden Trust, Peru

The Anita Goulden Trust was set up in 1987 to administrate donations made by people inspired by Anita Goulden, who dedicated most of her life to the plight of the homeless and orphaned children of Piura, Peru. Anita Goulden fed, clothed and housed an assorted troop of abandoned children from 1958 until she died in 2001. In 1960 she founded the only free school in Piura where children receive an education along with other underprivileged children from the surrounding area. Today the charity continues to look after abandoned children.
www.anitagoulden.org

New Life Mexico

New Life Mexico (NLM) is a charity that supports children and young people in Mexico who have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused. Stopping children living and working the streets is essential. NLM is actively involved in assisting two local ‘prevention projects’; Kids At Risk’ currently assists over 200 children with education and sustainable lifestyle programmes and ‘Working Children’ offers support and practical encouragement to over 250 children from the age of 7 upwards. Additionally, NLM has instigated and managed the raising of funds to re-furbish the whole Street Children Re-Habilitation Center and many children are now attending external schools or being provided with one-to-one teaching, none of which would be possible without the generous financial support given through NLM.
www.newlifemexico.com

EASTERN EUROPE

The Forget-Me-Not Foundation

The Forget-me-not Foundation is a British charity in Romania, which was set up to help orphans with special needs. The foundation provides a private “family” home for five children and was opened in September 2002, after taking the children into permanent custody from the Romanian social services. The children at the home were abandoned by their parents at birth or when very young. Some have congenital mental disabilities, while some have behavioural problems, as a result of previous abuse or neglect. The home is staffed 24 hours a day by six nurses, a cook and manager, who are all specially trained at working with children with learning difficulties. The children also attend a special needs day centre, which offers physiotherapy, speech and sensory therapy. All donations made to the Forget-me-not foundation will help with the day-to-day running costs of the home, as well as the specialist treatment needed by the children.
www.fmn.home.ro

Pheonix: A Project to Save the Siberian Tiger

In 1993 Siberian tiger numbers had crashed to as low as 100 because of poaching for tiger body parts and a decrease in habitat and prey species. Today, as a result of the hard work carried out by project Phoenix, a very successful anti-poaching and education initiative in the Russian Far East, numbers have crept back up to between 400-500.
www.phoenix.vl.ru/about.htm

The Chernobyl Relief Foundation in the UK for Ukrainian Children

This charity was set up in 1995 to provide essential medical, material and social support for children in the Ukraine who have been affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster which took place in April 1986. Unfortunately the catastrophe didn’t just affect the people living in the area at the time. Many of the children who managed to survive Chernobyl now have children of their own who have also been touched by the disaster and born with handicaps and chronic diseases. The Chernobyl Relief Foundation in the UK uses its funds to provide humanitarian aid, including medical equipment, food and clothing to hospitals and institutions which care for Chernobyl children. It also organises cross-cultural exchanges between children in England and Wales, with children affected by the disaster in the Ukraine.
www.childrenofchornobyl.org

TOURIST OFFICES and ASSOCIATIONS

Association of National Tourist Offices in the UK

Links to National Tourist Offices worldwide.
www.antor.com

Latin American Travel Association (LATA)

Trade Association of tourist boards, tour operators, hotels, wholesalers, media, airlines and overseas members dedicated to promoting tourism in Latin America.
www.lata.org

African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA)

Trade association of tourist boards, tour operators, hotels, wholesalers, media airlines and overseas members dedicated to promoting tourism in Africa.
www.atta.co.uk

Other AITO (Association of Independent Tour Operators) Companies

Carisma Holidays

Mobile homes on superb sandy beaches
www.carisma.co.uk

Casas Cantabricas

The specialist in green Spain for self-catering holidays
www.casas.co.uk

In The Saddle - Holidays on Horseback

World-wide riding holidays, working ranches, horseback safaris and riding exhibitions.
www.inthesaddle.com

Laskarina Holidays

Self-catering to 11 unspoilt Greek Islands
www.laskarina.co.uk

Alan Rogers Camping Holidays

Mobile home and camping holidays
www.bellefrance.co.uk

Select Sites

Reservation service for caravanners and campers
www.shamrockcottages.co.uk

Ski Beat

Catered chalets in France
www.skibeat.co.uk

Pandaw Cruises

Small luxury ships exploring the rivers of Asia
www.pandaw.com