Charitable Traveller Magazine - August/September 2020 - Issue 1

ISSUE 1 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER

50% travel, 50% charity, 100% meaningful

Holidays with heart

Beautiful Destinations • Good Causes • Responsible & Meaningful Experiences

Magical Christmas Markets in Brno Less than 2 hours by train from Prague. Direct flights from London. Enjoy Christmas markets like locals in the second biggest city and get to know the wonders of South Moravia.

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FROM THE FOUNDER

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MEET THE TEAM

Melissa Tilling

As Covid-19 leaves its legacy throughout society, we’re all adjusting to find our way in work, leisure-time, travel and everyday life.

Family, friends and community have never been more important, despite the physical distance between us. We have clapped for carers, supported neighbours and those in need, respected each other with social distancing, and kept loved ones close even if that meant using technology.

We have celebrated great charitable achievements, not least Sir Captain Tom Moore’s epic walk for NHS Charities Together. People have donated their money

Ian

Favourite destination: Venice First trip after lockdown: Dubai I like to support: Cancer Research

to great causes – even those whose own finances were uncertain - or their time to make PPE. Our capacity for compassion and community care is evident.

Dreams of travel with friends or family, meeting new people in new places or simply the restorative value of a holiday, have been something to look forward to.

This #TravelforGood message was my vision of a better way for the travel industry – to ensure the profit from travel and tourism went to help good causes

Steve

Favourite destination: Florida’s West Coast First trip after lockdown: Hawaii I like to support: Prostate Cancer UK – it took my Dad

In the midst of this pandemic, into this new world with new values, Charitable Travel was launched. We are a social enterprise with a dual purpose: helping our customers book great holidays and helping society by enabling customers to give to their chosen charity, at no extra cost, when they book. This #TravelforGood message was my vision of a better way for the travel industry – to ensure the profit from travel and tourism went to help good causes.

I am delighted to launch Charitable Traveller - our editorial voice, shouting our ‘travel with conscience’ message loud and proud. Thank you to our editor Laura, our designer Louisa, our wider team, contributors and advertisers for their hard

Vicky

Favourite destination: Sri Lanka First trip after lockdown: Greece I like to support: Macmillan

work, support and sharing my mission for us all to be more charitable travellers.

Please read, enjoy, share and let us know what you think.

Rosie

©CHARITABLE TRAVEL 2020. CHARITABLE TRAVELLER is part of CHARITABLE TRAVEL, Fundraising Futures Community Interest Company, One Elmfield Park, Bromley, Kent, BR1 1LU, UK. Putting our profit to work supporting the work of charitable causes. T: 020 3092 1288 E: bookings@charitable.travel W: charitable.travel Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy, CHARITABLE TRAVEL cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. FRONT COVER: Galesnjak, Boris Kacan/CNTB. CEO: Melissa Tilling; MARKETING: Rosie Buddell; MAGAZINE EDITOR: Laura Gelder; MAGAZINE DESIGNER: Louisa Horton.

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Favourite destination: Greece First trip after lockdown: The Lake District I like to support: Crisis

CHARITABLE TRAVELLER

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Urban Adventures in Denver, Colorado Gateway to the American West!

SAMPLE DENVER’S CRAFT BREWS

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Let the Denver Beer Trail be your guide to some of The Mile High City’s 150 unique craft breweries, many of which are located in the walkable city center. Or, learn from the experts on a guided beer tour!

EXPERIENCE A WALKABLE CITY CENTER.

It’s easy when you take the train from Denver International Airport to Denver Union Station that features farm-to-table restaurants, The Terminal Bar and Cooper Lounge, and hop on the free 16th Street Mall shuttle to explore more of downtown.

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BE INSPIRED BY ART!

LISTEN TO MUSIC UNDER THE STARS!

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No music lover’s bucket list is complete without experiencing a concert at the world-famous Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre; and, during the day, you can hike the park’s scenic trails amidst ancient, giant boulders.

Visit Denver Art Museum, home to famous Western and American Indian art collections. General admission is free to all youth age 18 and under every day and includes transportation for eld trips for underserved schools, granting more kids access to art.

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EXPLORE DIVERSE NEIGHBORHOODS.

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Make your way through creative neighborhoods that surround the city center like Highlands, Art District on Santa Fe, Golden Triangle Creative District and RiNo (River North) offering colorful street art, intimate live music venues, craft breweries and urban food halls.

@el_chan_guri @ddaatteelliinnee

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INSIDE

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BLACK LIVES MATTER ALABAMA

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GET THE PICTURE

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14 BAGS THAT SHOW YOU CARE BY MADLUG

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE CHILDREN’S TRUST

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HAPPY HINTS FROM HELSINKI INSECTS TO EMBRACE FROM BUGLIFE

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LGBTQ-FRIENDLY MALTA

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SUPPORT WOMEN WITH HOW MANY ELEPHANTS

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WHY I DONATED TO HEARTBURN CANCER UK

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Editor’s note Has there ever been a better time to launch a magazine called Charitable Traveller? You might be thinking: ‘well, yes, why on earth now?’

It’s true that the world is reeling from the impact

of Covid-19 and that the travel industry is on its knees. But surely that’s all the more reason to promote this new brand of travel which directly helps society?

The lockdown has been a time to reset, to re-think priorities and to imagine a better world. As a keen traveller, I’ve been amazed by how much I’ve enjoyed exploring my own backyard, slowing down to watch nature take charge and the seasons’ inevitable, somehow comforting, progress.

I still yearn to travel but I now know, with more certainty than ever, that we must all make it count when we do.

That’s what Charitable Traveller is all about. It’s a magazine for people who want not only to change location but also to change the world for the better.

Enjoy reading and please get in touch with your stories of #travelforgood

L aura CHARITABLE TRAVELLER

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GREECE NEEDS YOU Have you been yearning for a perfect beach leading into a deep blue sea, narrow streets of white-washed houses with tumbling hot pink bougainvillea and a quayside taverna where you can see the catch of the day come in as the smell of souvlaki floats on the breeze?

You need Greece. And Greece needs you. Like many countries it’s dependent on tourism. If you need another reason (as if), now is possibly the only time you can experience peak season weather with less than low season crowds.

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GREEN & LOVELY Housed in the old Danish Post and Telegraph office next to Tivoli Gardens, Villa Copenhagen (a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts) is as sustainable as it is luxurious, from its carbon-free dining with zero food waste to the staff’s uniforms by local sustainable brand sur le chemin. The style is modern/ classic Scandinavian, with high ceilings and herringbone floors, but the Earth Suite is entirely comprised of recycled materials. It’s worth popping in just to see the walls – they house the city’s finest private art collection, valued at more than US$2 million.

MEAL FOR A MEAL Peninsula Hotels is working with local charities in cities including Hong Kong and Tokyo to donate a meal to those in need in the community for every meal ordered in one of its hotels.

The group’s buildings also lit up their facades with hearts to show love for their cities, and in Chicago they hosted live music on their terrace so locked-down locals could enjoy some uplifting tunes.

COLLECT THIS! LUX* Resorts & Hotels’ ‘Collectable Experiences’, is a new range of activities designed to help guests immerse themselves in their destination and give back to the community. Put together by locals in Mauritius, Reunion, the Maldives and China, the experiences include a picnic on a volcanic plateau in Reunion; sharing a cup of yak butter tea with the spiritual leader of a Tibetan monastery in China and snorkelling with whale sharks in the Maldives.

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GLOBAL

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Get fit with Mintridge If you haven’t already, make sure you sign up for Charitable Travel’s free wellness sessions, held over Zoom every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8am - and support the Mintridge Foundation.

The perfect partner for Weekday Wellness, which involves a full body workout with qualified Personal Trainer Jenny Tomei, the Mintridge Foundation is a charity dedicated to enhancing life skills in young people through sport.

Before you enjoy the physical

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE BERESFORD STREET

and mental benefits of Jenni’s

KITCHEN HAS OPENED LA HOUGUE BIE

to this unique charity to help them

TEA ROOMS IN JERSEY. IF YOU’RE IN THE CHANNEL ISLANDS THIS SUMMER POP IN

workout, we ask that you donate provide a support network for young people through the power of positive sporting role models.

We’ve even had one of Mintridge Foundation’s ambassadors join one

FOR A CUPPA - IT EMPLOYS ADULTS WITH

of our sessions - athlete, hockey

LEARNING DISABILITIES AND AUTISM

and Paralympian Laura Sugar. You

captain, canoeist, record holder can watch a Q&A with Laura here: charitable.travel/the-daywe-met-an-olympian

Ride 4 rangers is off THE UK’s African Travel Industry is coming together to support rangers by

embarking on an 874-mile bike ride from Lands End to John O Groats.

Ride 4Rangers (ride4rangers.com) is an initiative in partnership with

conservation charity Tusk and it aims to raise more than £100,000. Industry professionals and conservation lovers are invited to join in the challenge, starting on August 15, or donate, as the riders aim to complete a cumulative distance equivalent to a circumnavigation of Africa. You can also take part by organising a local cycle of your own to raise money.

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NOKA PUTS CARBON TO USE LEPOGO Lodges’ Noka Camp in

South Africa is working with local and global charity organisations to offset its guests’ carbon footprint. The offset carbon is then converted into a monetary value and donated to one of three conservation projects by the not-for-profit safari lodge.

The lodge has collaborated with the neighbouring Lapalala Wilderness School’s outreach programme to launch the Community Stove Project. This sees high-efficiency stoves donated to the local community, reducing the wood used in each household by an estimated 2.5 tons a year - saving trees, lowering emissions and increasing cooking efficiency.

Guests can also donate their carbon earnings to the South Africa Forest Trust, a not-for-profit organisation and platform which brings landowners, institutions and individuals together to plant indigenous forest ecosystems.

The third project is Stand for Trees, a global conservation project which aims to protect the world’s most spectacular forest landscapes, surrounding communities and inhabiting wildlife.

ANURAK Community Lodge in Thailand’s Khao Sok National Park has launched the ‘Rainforest Rising’ project. The scheme will see guests plant trees to transform a former palm oil plantation beside the lodge to indigenous lowland evergreen forest by 2023. It hopes to tempt back wildlife like deer, hog badger, civet, tapir, pangolin, wild boar, mongoose and loris.

Magical Christmas in Prague Lights twinkle over historical town squares. Holiday aromas fill the air. A warm drink soothes cold hands.

Come and enjoy Czech Republic and its Christmas markets with all your senses. charitable.travel/czech-republic #VisitCzechRepublic Prague

bitter-sweet home ALABAMA

Alabama Tourism Department

As the Black Lives Matter movement ignited in the U.S. this spring, Laura Gelder reflected on the important lessons she learnt on the Civil Rights Trail in Alabama

MEMORIAL SCULPTURE, KELLY INGRAM PARK, BIRMINGHAM

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Montgomery

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ince the horrific killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and amidst the protests and the riots; the sadness and the anger, one place has come to my mind and one moment that took place there. The place is Selma, Alabama and the moment, well, I’ll get to that later.

It was 2012 and my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird was pretty much my only reference point for racial inequality in the south, as I started my journey on the Civil Rights Trail.

A hot and sultry Sunday afternoon greeted me and I was just in time for dinner in Sturdivant Hall - the grandest of Selma’s buildings, tucked away amongst quiet backstreets lined with trees dripping

in a segregated Selma, where she wasn’t allowed in the ice cream parlour. By the time she was 11 she had been arrested 13 times and she was one of the youngest people to participate in Bloody Sunday.

This historic day in 1965 was when hundreds of black citizens started a march from Selma to the state

Joanne told us about growing up in Selma, where she wasn’t allowed in the ice cream parlour. By the time she was 11 she had been arrested 13 times in Spanish moss. The mansion was built by slaves in the 1850s and showcases the days when Southern hospitality was in full swing, but its beautiful rooms made me feel distinctly uncomfortable as I sipped iced tea amongst the ill-gotten gains of the cotton industry.

The next day I met tour guide Joanne in the comfortingly greasescented Downtowner diner and I knew she wasn’t going to pull any punches as I tucked into a plate of cheesy grits and she told me: “Girl, you gonna get fat”.

Joanne told us about growing up

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THE DOWNTOW SELMA

DILAPIDATED YOUTH CENTRE,

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capital Montgomery to protest against their constitutional right to vote being denied through intimidation. As they went to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge they were met by policemen and when they refused to turn their peaceful parade around they were brutally beaten with sticks, charged with horses and tear gassed.

A victory, of sorts

The pictures of this police brutality were beamed all around the world, causing outrage and prompting President Johnson to pass the Voting Rights Act which prohibited racial discrimination during elections.

The continued presence of this symbolic structure, sadly, had not raised all the fortunes or spirits of this predominantly black town. Breaking past the tourist drag, I found block after block of dilapidated, boardedup houses, weeds poking through decks and cracked pavements.

Continuing on the trail, in Montgomery I visited a museum dedicated to Rosa Parks, the

SELMA CHARITABLE TRAVELLER

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Make it count

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail spans 15 states and over 100 poignant sites. Visit some on your next trip to the U.S.

Greensboro, North Carolina In 1960 four students were refused service at a lunch counter in a Woolworth’s. They refused to leave in protest and over the next three days more than 300 students joined.

Atlanta, Georgia Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up here in a time of strict segregation.

Visit his birth home, Ebenezer Baptist Church where he first preached his message of peace, the Center for Civil and Human Rights, and many more important sites.

Mims, Florida This little town near Orlando is where, in the 193os/40s, two teachers fought for equal pay and investigated lynchings and police brutality, before being murdered.

Sumner, Mississippi Site of a pivotal case in the Civil Rights Movement – the brutal murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till and the trial which, unbelievably, saw his killers aquitted.

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Alabama Tourism Department

Little Rock, Arkansas In 1957 the town’s governor called in the state National Guard to stop black students from entering the high school and President Eisenhower sent federal troops to give the students safe passage.

THE 16TH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH, BIRMINGHAM

woman who refused to give up her bus seat for a white person and sparked the town’s black residents, who made up three quarters of the buses’ customers, to boycott them for over a year, facing threats and intimidation at

Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson (all 14 years old) and Carol Denise McNair (11) were murdered by a bomb planted by the Ku Klux Klan in 1963. It was a bomb so fierce that it decapitated one victim, created a five foot

It’s tragic how relevant Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter from Birmingham Jail still is when you consider this year’s anti-racism marches every turn. The economic effect of their civil disobedience lead to a new law allowing black citizens to sit where they wanted on the bus.

At Birmingham’s Civil Rights Institute we saw a dark side to the 1950s America we’d seen in movies like Grease - where black Americans were forbidden to enter the milkshake bars, play sport with white Americans or even use the same washrooms as them.

I visited the 16th Street Baptist Church, which housed a black-only congregation and was a centre for the city’s civil rights campaigners in the 1960s. I watched a joyful service where ladies in elegant dresses with coiffed hair and spotless white gloves danced, sung and clapped along with a gospel choir. They stood just above the basement where

crater in the church and blew a passing motorist out of his car.

We learnt that the city was nicknamed ‘Bombingham’ for the sheer amount of explosions it saw during a terror campaign which was waged on the black

MORIAL CIVIL RIGHTS ME MONTGOMERY

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community for daring to move into He addresses religious leaders and so-called white neighbourhoods talks of his disappointment in “the or challenge segregation. white moderate who is more We read Dr. Martin devoted to order than to Luther King Jr.’s letter justice” and how it’s easy from Birmingham for those who have Jail, where he never experienced was locked up inequality to ask Show Racism the Red Card for leading a those who have is an anti-racism educational charity offering workshops and peaceful march to be calm and training and using famous without a permit. wait for action. football players to spread In it he calls I wonder what the word in the UK. Birmingham ‘the he would think theredcard.org most segregated of today’s America. city in the United Each time I see the States’ with an ‘ugly image of the policeman who record of police brutality’. knelt on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, his Echoes of the past face blank and unconcerned, It’s tragic how relevant the letter I’m reminded of the moment in still is in light of the recent antiSelma when I realised that racism racism marches. In it he addresses was not consigned to history. those who deplore protests, saying: I was in a tour bus and Joanne “I am sorry that your statement was pointing out something, when didn’t express a similar concern I noticed a white man on the for the conditions that brought street corner waving. “I think that the demonstrations into being.” guy knows you, Joanne,” I said.

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She told me quite casually that he was a racist and he was always there, complaining about her tours blocking the streets and trying to stop her telling her story.

And then she told me to just wave right back, before getting on with telling her story.

We are excited to welcome you back to Barbados!

We know that while here, you will thoroughly enjoy our quality of life, celebrations, openness, inclusiveness, white sandy beaches, gorgeous Caribbean climate, culture and, the many nuances of a Bajan lifestyle. So hurry and book your next holiday and, let Barbados provide you with the perfect blend of rhythm, passion and unbelievable experiences!

Visit Barbados

@Barbados

@visitbarbados

charitable.travel/barbados

Alabama Tourism

Department

Fight racism here

BAGS OF

enthusiasm Every issue we meet another social enterprise to see how they are using their profits for good.

Dave Linton started bag company Madlug to help kids in care…

What is Madlug and how did it come about?

Madlug stands for ‘make a difference luggage’ because for every bag we sell, a bag is donated to a child in care.

I’ve had a 22-year career in youth work, my wife and I are adoptive parents and we’ve also been foster carers so it’s a cause close to my heart.

In 2014 my wife and I were attending a fostering course and we were shown a video of a young girl talking about her experience of the care system, moving from place to place. She said that sometimes local authorities lend suitcases, “but quite often we have to put our belongings in black bin bags and we lose our dignity”. As soon as I heard that I thought of nothing else and it was the start of Madlug.

Why is a bag important?

There are bigger issues to fix in the care system but for me this was the thing I heard and it broke my heart.

It might seem like a small thing but

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the reality is it’s huge. Letting kids use a bin bag to move their belongings reinforces a message to those who feel lost in the care system, who feel perhaps undervalued, worthless - rubbish. We say ‘life goes inside’ meaning that for a child in care, it is their life that goes inside that bag and it’s important.

Tell us about your bags

We have a range of quality, affordable and classically-designed bags - classic, roll-top, laptop and outdoor-style backpacks, duffle bags and shoulder bags - in a huge choice of colours. The cost of every bag covers a free bag for a child in care but they get one designed for their needs.

We consulted a focus group of kids and they told us that bin bags were often used because bags take up a lot of space and in a residential home they might only have access to one drawer. They also told us that being given a huge bag can reinforce that

they have very little. The children said they didn’t want to be stigmatised as a child in care so they wanted a non-branded bag but they loved our catchphrase: ‘Value. Worth. Dignity’.

We’ve created a pack-away bag with these words on the outside but when you open it up into a bag they’re hidden. It fits into a sock drawer but kids can have multiple bags if they need. On the label it also says: “You are incredible”.

Why a social enterprise?

Years ago I saw the founder of TOMS shoes speak at a conference about his buy-one-give-one model. I remember thinking - ‘wow, what a great idea’ but then I forgot all about it.

It would have been easy to get people to donate bags but then what? You need to get more. I didn’t want to start a charity because there was already great work being done for kids in care and I didn’t want to take a slice of that pie.

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I’d always loved the idea of business and management, I was just never hungry enough to chase money. I rang up the local business advice service and said: “I want to start a business but I want to give all the profits away,” and they told me about social enterprises.

What have been the challenges?

Local authorities are now 100% behind us but we had to make it clear that we weren’t there to criticise.

What we do is empower and enable them to deliver on policies that are already in place.

Our first 100 bags went to Barnardos Northern Ireland, who we approached. We then spoke to another charity who introduced us to local authorities. Today there is such a demand for our bags that we get requests from them.

How did you build your brand?

a massive £24,500 by the end of the campaign. I got to have brunch with Richard in the end too!

In 2018 we got a boost from an influencer, Part-time Working Mummy. She posted a picture of herself and her kids sporting Madlug bags on Instagram and shared her story of using bin bags in care and why Madlug was so important. We sold all our products out within two hours of that post going live.

What’s the feedback like?

Both care-experienced adults and kids love Madlug. One summer I was at a festival selling bags when I met Jay, a 17 year-old who’d spent ten years in care. He told me that during a two-week period he’d moved 15 times, with his belongings in bin bags. He said: ”What you’re doing is amazing,” and I got really choked up.

When I could reply I told him: “What’s really amazing, Jay, is that there are

Back in 2015 organic marketing worked on Facebook so I stood in front of a camera, talked with passion and it got some traction.

In 2016 we were chosen as one of The Observer’s 50 New Radicals - a list of businesses or individuals changing society for the better.

That was a great help!

A year later I entered a competition: ‘Win a £1000 and brunch with Richard Branson’.

We didn’t win - we didn’t raise the most in the first 72 hours of a four-week crowdfund - but the company that did win didn’t raise another penny where as we raised

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over 300 young people at this festival who chose to buy Madlug bags over Nike, Adidas and lots of other brands.

Why? Because every one of them believes you are incredible.”

He went off smiling and later contacted us to say he was donating all his 18th birthday money to us. This is the power of Madlug - to tell young people in care that they matter. When you wear Madlug you are a non-verbal communicator of your belief in them.

What’s next?

To date we’ve given 20,000 bags to children in care. For the next three years we’ll continue to focus on the UK but there are children in care all around the world and our aim is to eventually make our impact global.

What’s your advice for others wanting to start a social enterprise?

Find your ‘black bin bag story’.

It’s easy to have a desire to help a cause, whether it’s kids in care or homelessness, but you need your ‘bin bag’ - your razor-sharp focus.

And don’t be afraid of failure because failing is learning.

Show a kid in care that you care

Make packing for your next holiday feel extra good and pick up a Madlug backpack, shoulder or duffel bag in your favourite colour. madlug.com

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Ruth Moys, Specialist Occupational Therapist at The Children’s Trust. Working in the charity’s rehabilitation team, she helps children with acquired brain injuries live their best lives possible An occupational therapist is a problem solver. I help children achieve what they want, need or expect to do in their everyday lives, working with children and parents to achieve specific goals.

My job is varied because what’s important to a child varies, but typical goals would be helping them gain independence by learning to get ready for the day. However, it could be that playing computer games, baking or painting are important to them.

I help kids with physical and thinking skills but I’m also looking for equipment or services that might help them in the future procuring a suitable wheelchair, for instance.

A typical day. . .

... starts around 8.30am with a 4.30pm finish. I work Monday to Friday, although during the pandemic I’ve worked some Saturdays as we try to reduce the amount of staff on site and help to speed up discharges from hospitals.

Every morning there is handover, a recap on the last 24 hours and anything that may influence the nurses or therapists that day.

For instance, if a child had a bad night’s sleep that could affect what they are able to do.

My day is split up into half hour or 45-minute sessions with individual children, with a break for lunch and some admin time.

The hardest thing is. . .

...walking the line between supporting a family and hearing their concerns while also dealing with the reality of things like accessible housing being in short supply.

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The best thing. . .

Help children with brain injuries

..is seeing the kids make progress - it’s so rewarding. They are adjusting to a new normal so they can be excited about progress but also frustrated or sad about everything they have lost.

It’s great to witness the first time a child walks, or to see a child light up when they first drive their powered wheelchair around.

But there are so many little things that happen every day – a child brushing their teeth independently or going out with their family for the first time can be a huge achievement.

I work with. . .

We deliver rehabilitation, education and community services through skilled teams who work with children. thechildrenstrust.org.uk

...a great team who support me – speech therapists, music therapists, physiotherapists, teachers and more.

I might do a joint session with a physiotherapist to help a child reach the toilet, or with a speech therapist to help them let us know when they need it.

It's amazing. . .

...how varied the job is. Some children have obvious disabilities; with others you wouldn’t necessarily know there is anything wrong with them, yet they have hidden communicational or cognitive difficulties. I work with many kids for four to 12 weeks and on a variety of goals, so it’s like my job changes every few months. It’s always interesting because every brain injury is different and every child is different. The learning opportunities and the variety are endless. I love my job.

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Helsinki

Happy hardcore HELSINKI

What is it that makes Finland’s capital the happiest city in the world? Laura Gelder finds out during a cold, dark and wet weekend in Helsinki

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he capital of the world’s happiest country is already plunged into darkness when I arrive, around 3pm in mid-January.

It’s difficult to see if people are smiling because they’re swaddled in woollen scarves and hats or hiding in vast fur-trimmed hoods. But as I lug my suitcase along the shopping street of Mannerheimintie, Christmas lights sparkle cheerfully above.

Helsinki is officially the happiest city in the world – according to the United Nations’ World Happiness Report – and Finland has been the happiest country for the last three years, tailed by Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway.

The report has a whole chapter exploring just why the Nordic countries are so content. It pulls out factors like generous welfare states, social cohesion, income equality and the freedom to make life choices, but I’m told that many Finns attribute their happiness to a close connection with nature.

A visit to Helsinki in the midst of its bleak winter feels like the worst time to explore this idea, since all I want to do is be inside. It doesn’t help that every window seems designed to lure me out of the cold.

Warm pools of light from stylish lamps beckon, spilling onto the wet pavement; soft furnishings – knitted throws and fur rugs – seem to reach out offering palpable comfort, and windows steam seductively from within, silently communicating cosiness. The Danes may have invented the word ‘hygge’ but surely the Finns have perfected it.

Finland is largely not urban. It’s a land of lakes, rivers and the most forested country in Europe, with 70% of the land covered by trees. There’s an inherent respect for nature and the country is ambitiously aiming to be carbon neutral by 2035..

Sustainable Travel Finland is

NUUKSIO NATIONAL PARK

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Eetu Ahanen

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ALLAS SEA POOL

a programme from the tourist board that helps travellers recognise companies that are working towards sustainability by labelling them when they’ve filled certain criteria.

The capital has its own similar programme called Think Sustainably and my hotel, Hotel St George, is certified. As soon I enter my room I see a card encouraging me to enjoy Finland’s famously good tap water.

Nature in the city

There is a place in the city where you can retreat into the forest.

Metsä/Skogen (forest in Finnish and Swedish) is a concept store which

Donate to the Travel Foundation to ensure that tourism brings greater benefits for people and the environment. thetravelfoundation. org.uk

particular brand of natural healing – items like organic linen sauna robes, sustainable tree hugger sweatshirts and bath salts infused with wild herbs – doesn’t come cheap.

Worth stopping for though, is the Mushroom Bar, a culinary concept from Finnish chef and the author of The Wild Herb, Sami Tallberg.

Sami tells me he actually learnt to forage in Kent, while he was working in London, and began to admire the tenacity of mushrooms, which have to be strong to survive and are

A concrete jungle crammed with brutalist tower blocks has become a canvas of epic proportions... The huge face of a hawk gazes piercingly into the rush hour traffic was started by entrepreneur Carita Peltonen, after she suffered career burn-out and retreated to the forest to walk her dog. After taking time out to appreciate its beauty, she decided to take the healing benefits of the forest to the city.

The shop is an oasis of pine-scented calm, where tweeting is the soothing soundtrack of birdsong rather than communicating in 280 characters.

The cynic in me notes that this

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ALL COSY INSIDE ALLAS SEA POOL

therefore packed with nutrients.

On a candlelit table decorated with driftwood and leaves I dine on earthy mushroom soup with seaweed, poached perch with roe and meadowsweet mousse with wild berries. Also prescribed by the ‘forest therapist’ is Champagne infused with medicinal herbs. It’s rounded off with a chaga and chicory cappuccino. Chaga, Sami tells me, is the tumour of the birch tree but

one that helps to prevent cancer in humans.

I awake the next day to darkness but the sky has finally dawned an unfathomable grey by the time I leave the hotel, fortified by the cinnamon buns which I had been powerless to resist ever since I’d smelt them wafting out of the hotel’s snug basement bakery.

Community expression

I’m meeting urban activist Jaako Blomberg, whose mission is to facilitate ‘participatory urban culture’. An unassuming man in an anorak with his long blonde hair in a pony tail, Jaako is behind some of Helsinki’s most high-profile events – like Cleaning Day, when the city turns into a giant flea market and everyone can sell, donate or swap the spoils of their spring-cleaning.

Helsinki Urban Art is also his brainchild and a way to enliven urban spaces with street art as well as giving a canvas to talented artists.

I meet him at his headquarters in East Pasila, a concrete jungle crammed with brutalist tower blocks linked by pedestrian walkways which criss-cross above the busy traffic.

This multi-cultural, inner-city estate has become a canvas of epic proportions. There’s an eight-storey mural depicting the creation of earth, a three-metre-high photorealistic portrait of Jesus sporting

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Helsinki’s newest public space is the Oodi Helsinki Public Library, a futuristic structure of curving wood, glass and steel that is designed to be a public living room.

Access to libraries is a statutory right in Finland, but this place is not just for bibliophiles - it’s been designed with an open society and equal opportunities in mind.

A spiral staircase wallpapered in words leads from the meeting hall on the ground floor to a hobbyist’s

ni s h h o li Fin

a Fin d

Public spirited

heaven. At rows of computer desks people sit side-by-side studying and creating. There’s a room just for gaming; a series of rooms for hire including sound-proofed studios and a kitchen; and a bank of sewing machines as well as state-of-theart 3D printers and laser-cutting machines.

On the top floor is a cathedral of books topped with a dream-like undulating ceiling and surrounded by vast windows which flood the space with light, despite the gloomy weather.

Perched on a planked wave of wood that flows down to the bookcases, people sit talking quietly, reading or tapping at laptops. There’s even a secret children’s reading nook behind a bookcase that swings open to reveal a fairy tale room designed like the inside of pumpkin. It feels like a port in a storm, where people come to together to dream and create.

But I must head to sea for the day’s

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a striped jumper with his crown of thorns, and the huge face of a hawk gazing piercingly into the rush hour traffic. Smaller installations include a bird box clinging to a lamp post which is a miniature copy of the tower block behind it - and a series of intriguing patterned and textured ceramic shapes clinging to the top of an underpass. On the greyest of days in the greyest of places, the art brings a sense of pride.

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y at chari t da

STREET ART, PA SILA

final stop. Allas Sea Pool runs on sustainable energy and has three pools on a floating deck amidst Helsinki’s harbour, two heated and one just a gateway into the sea itself.

First I head to the women’s sauna, opting to wear a bikini since I’m

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THE FOR EST THE RAPIST AT METS A/SKOG EN

too English for the alternative. I still find it a liberating experience and I think it’s the sense of togetherness. Women of every shape and size – some nonchalantly naked, some not – huddle together in this tiny wooden cave, steam hissing, hot water dripping down around us.

There’s none of the snobbish hush you get in a spa – people chatter away – but it’s not like a noisy leisure centre either, it’s relaxing.

Once I’m sufficiently steamed I take my pink body out into the freezing Finnish night, pattering down the gangway like a lame duck. The lights of the harbour twinkle across the water, along with a passing ship, as I lower myself into the black abyss of the sea pool. A short, frantic splash across the width of it is all I can bear but once I’m out and the aching pain of cold subsides I feel amazing – euphorically happy in fact.

Nevertheless I sink gratefully into the warm pool to float under clouds of steam and wonder how happy I would be if this was part of my weekly routine, like it is for the Finns.

has rigorous recycling and serves only game or plant-based foods.

The plan had been to snowshoe but there is still no white stuff, much to the concern of everyone I’ve met.

Co-owner Annu Huotari tells me, sadly, that the hares have already turned white but are now just fluffy targets bouncing around the stillbrown undergrowth.

A walk through the forest is still magical. Wood-chip paths weave past moss- and lichen-covered trees up to a promontory overlooking the lake below, still and opaque like the back of a mirror. Anna tells me the park is home to bears, moose and even a pack of wolves but that guests staying in the cosy cabins can hike, kayak or snow shoe safely.

“The Finns have always had an affinity with the forest,” says Anna.

“They see it as a place of safety, unlike many other European countries where tales like Red Riding Hood show a fear of it.”

Her business is third-generation, inherited from her grandparents who relocated from Karelia when it was ceded to Russia during World Forest feelings War Two. During a bitter conflict On my last morning I finally get known as the Winter War the Finns to the real forest, to visit Hawkhill, were vastly outnumbered and outa Sustainable Travel Finlandarmed by the Soviets yet they approved collection of held out for months, Anna log cabins on the edge tells me, and hit the of Nuuksio National Soviets hard by using Park, 45 minutes their knowledge Show your love for British from the city. It of the forest and forests with a donation to the plans to be carbon melting into it to Woodland Trust. It plants trees negative by 2021, evade capture.

Tree hugger ?

to combat climate change and stands up for forests in danger of destruction. woodlandtrust. org.uk

HAWKHIL

L’S SUSTA

INABLE LO G CABIN

S

Admittedly, I have always found forests a bit frightening, feeling like they could swallow me up somehow, but I’m starting to change my tune.

On average, Finns are just 200 metres from one and while they are far from what I would call ‘tree huggers’ - quite the opposite, they seem to be pragmatic people as a general rule - an appreciation for trees is deeply rooted in the culture.

So what have I learnt from my trip to Helsinki? Definitely to come again because the weather was grim. But also: not to be scared of the forest and to embrace and look after nature; that libraries are always a good idea; creativity brings pride and joy; to finish my shower with a cold blast; and to eat more mushrooms.

OODI, HELSINKI’S INCREDIBLE PUBLIC LIBRARY

FINNS ARE NEVER FAR FROM A TREE

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bugs ba c

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S.Falk

m the b fro r

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Br i

Dan TP

BLUEBOTTLE This member of the blowfly family doesn’t have a nice job but it’s definitely a key worker. It lays its eggs in rotting meat and the maggots that hatch out polish off the carcass, leaving clean bones and a fresh crop of body-snatchers to fly off. Without them the world would, at best, be a more unpleasant place to live. Their cousin, the greenbottle, does a similarly useful job on poo!

Ben Hamers

DEVILS COACH HORSE The UK’s answer to a scorpion (but less scary), this critter has a similar pose - it raises the rear end of its body and opens its fierce jaws. This aggressive stance is only taken if it feels threatened and if it’s really freaked out it can emit a foul smelling fluid from its abdomen or even give a nip. During the day the devil’s coach horse rests under stones and logs but at night it comes out to feed on other invertebrates - dead or alive - making it a useful link in the food chain.

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CENTIPEDES Lurking in every British garden is a speedy carnivore which uses its modified legs to inject venom into its prey. Luckily it’s only other insects that need fear the centipede (in the UK at least).

This many-legged bug is the gardener’s friend and comes out at night to feast on slow-moving pests like slugs and wireworms as well as faster-moving prey like woodlice and spiders.

LEOPARD SLUG This slimey invertebrate is one of nature’s hoovers, cleaning up dead plants and fungi. Limax maximus is omnivorous but when in carnivore mode it can pursue other slugs at an impressive top speed of 15cm per minute. The slug that keeps slugs in check also enjoys an acrobatic sex life and likes to mate whilst dangling daringly on a thread of mucus.

S.Falk

COMMON WASP These yellow-striped flying fiends are pub garden terrorists that love to ruin a pint. But vespa vulgaris, to give it its villainous Latin name, is important. Take wasps away and you’ll find a plague of other insects upon you - likes flies Roger Labbett

and plant-eating aphids. Wasps are also pollinators and amazing architects, building hexagonal paper nests from chewed up wood.

They might be tiny, but insects make up over half the planet’s species and its health depends on them. This charity’s mission is to halt their worrying decline. buglife.org.uk

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FIVE BUGS

you need to love

Insects can be annoying, but imagine if they buzzed off forever... It would be a catastrophic for us so charity Buglife is trying to stop it CHARITABLE TRAVELLER

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Femme fatale

FOR POACHERS Guns and ammo aren’t the only answer to Africa’s poaching crisis; the all-female Black Mambas anti-poaching unit are taking a community approach and winning hearts as well as battles

S

How Many Elephants

outh Africa’s first all-female anti-poaching unit are supported by UK charity, How Many Elephants, who describe them as ‘protectors, educators and beacons of hope’.

Armed with just pepper spray and handcuffs, they patrol the hunting grounds of armed poachers.

The Black Mambas

WITH HOLLY BUDGE

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patrol the 62,000 hectare Balule Nature Reserve, one of many private reserves that make up the Greater Kruger National Park, which is 3% of South Africa but holds much of its Big Five wildlife the draw card for tourists.

They were founded in 2013 out of a need to protect the rhinos but have become a platform to

promote the protection of other animals, including elephants.

The Black Mambas’ founder Craig Spencer had a plan to make the Greater Kruger National Park the most difficult, undesirable and risky area to poach; but also to nurture a sympathetic community on its borders – allies to the park who would feel patriotic about its inhabitants. To do this he knew he had to address the social,

MBAS THE BLACK MA

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cultural and economic influences of poaching as well as getting boots on the ground to help armed units.

Stop the rot

“Just trying to shoot them off the land doesn’t work, they come back stronger,” says Craig. “We wanted to address the false economy that poaching creates – because the animals will run out – but also the moral decay. It’s about the young children who think: ‘why would I go to school when I can get a BMW if I sell a rhino horn?’ We needed locals to value the landscape like the French value the Eiffel Tower.”

When Craig approached the local council to find his team, the chief gave him a list of unemployed men and he had to explain that he wanted women for the job.

Even the women questioned their capability at first. They came to the interview dressed in their best clothes to impress but when they were told what the job involved they wondered if they could do the

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training, carrying backpacks for mean an agonising and slow death.

20km in 45-degree heat.

The women’s patrols dramatically “I asked them how they gathered improved snares almost overnight water and firewood,” says Craig.

The Black Mambas are a “They were doing it already – often landscape disruption force, their carrying three 20kg water cans – so very presence acting as a deterrent I said: let me finish your training and forcing a change in poacher and give you a uniform.” behaviour. The majority of rhino The women went through poaching in the area was once survival training as well as fitness done during the full moon, but drills. The Black Mamba’s objective increased patrolling now means in the bush is monitoring, detection hunters have to use sub-optimal and crime prevention so they may conditions where they risk being have to follow tracks or take up trampled or detected. surveillance, with no time to top up When the women aren’t food or water supplies. patrolling, searching for snares, or One of the most important jobs in the operations room monitoring they have is managing snares. camera traps, they are out in the These indiscriminate traps, often communities gathering intelligence set to procure bush meat rather and monitoring suspicious than ivory or horns, kill activity. more animals than The Black Mambas poachers’ bullets. know their beat and Even a thin they know the piece of wire locals – they can The Black Mambas are one of the initiatives supported by British can cut into identify when a charity How Many Elephants, founded an elephant’s vehicle or person by adventurer and conservationist tendon and can is acting

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Support female rangers

Holly Budge. They have raised over £400,000 to stop poaching. howmanyelephants.org

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How Many Elephants

Julia Gunther

A RARE MOMENT OF REST IN THE BUSH

How Many Elephants

HOW MANY ELEPHANTS IS A HARDHITTING DESIGN-LED CAMPAIGN

suspiciously. Their work led to the removal of a corrupt railway guard who was helping poachers enter the area. Their road-blocks have confiscated snares and weapons, such as guns fitted with homemade silencers made from old torches stuffed with pot scrubbers.

The camouflage-clad Black Mambas are the eyes and ears on the ground and they mean business but they are not just there to police, they are there to win hearts and minds. As sisters, mothers, aunties, wives, and now breadwinners, they command respect in their communities.

“We are role models,” says No Cry. “To the young children but also to our family – sisters and brothers – they see us as heroes

Elephants How Many

DGE HOLLY BU ANY M W O AT A H TS ELEPHAN N EXHIBITIO

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because we protect the wildlife.”

The charm offensive really kicked off with the Bush Babies project, set up by Black Mamba, Lewyn, who had always wanted to be a teacher. Lewyn wanted to engage young people but she had to start by improving the under-funded classrooms, where children often had to share chairs. The Black

why we are un-armed, but we teach them that poachers risk being killed.”

Since Covid-19 arrived in Africa the bush has fallen silent. No vehicles move through the arid landscape and those usually employed by the safari industry are without work. The highly skilled rangers usually occupy the crepuscular times of the day and help by reporting the location of

When the women aren’t patrolling, searching for snares or in the operations room monitoring camera traps, they are in the communities gathering intelligence Mambas sourced new furniture, added ceiling fans and painted walls to create cheerful classrooms. They now work with 10 schools covering 1,300 kids and have 36 lesson plans approved by the school boards. They even offer field trips into the bush.

“We go into primary schools to teach children about the environment but also to tell them that we cherish life,” says Felicia. “We don’t want to live in communities with widows and orphans, that is

animals and anything suspicious.

The long-term worry is that without the money from tourism, locals could go back to poaching. But, Craig points out, there is a big difference between someone hacking the face off a rhino to sell it and someone trying to catch impala to feed a starving family and he doesn’t want to put the latter in prison.

“It’s frightening that this bug from Wuhan can bring an industry to its knees in days,” says Craig.

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the safari industry are without work The Bush Babies have identified 90 vulnerable families and delivered food parcels to them. Meanwhile, the Black Mambas are still working removing snares, camping out with rhinos, showing that working for wildlife, not against it, pays.

The Black Mambas are now in their eighth year of operation and on their fourth intake with 33 in their ranks, but it’s not been without its challenges. Craig is loath to point out that other countries that followed the model have been accepted much quicker and says that it’s the white South Africans (like him) who are the biggest hurdles.

Overcoming sexism

E FIT BLACK MAMBAS AR AND DISCIPLINED

Black Mambas

“It’s an old industry and a colonial philosophy still exists,” he says.

“They can’t comprehend that an African woman in a uniform can perform just as well as a man, or better. It irritates and upsets me because they do the same level of training and they are deployed in a much more dangerous interface because they are not armed – yet someone with a gun is paid more.

It’s an injustice we will fix.”

But their approach really is working.

Independent studies have shown that residents of all four of the Black Mambas’ target communities now value wildlife and protected areas and compared to regions using only the militaristic approach or a combination of that with de-horning, the Black Mambas’ have fewer losses.

“We can’t claim victory but we have our fingers in the dyke,” says Craig.

It’s a system that exists in harmony with tourism – a smiling Black Mamba is easier for a game ranger to articulate to a safari tourist from Norway than a military roadblock

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Julia Gunther

the arid landscape and those employed by

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or a machine gun-wielding commando, Craig explains.

The women work long hours but they have family support. “Our kids understand, says Collet. “We explain that we are doing it for the world but for them too. We don’t want them to see the animals just in postcards.”

The biggest challenge lies ahead.

With the lodges closed, the future is uncertain. But perhaps the Black Mambas’ biggest success is the empowerment of the women and by extension the community, which translates to long-term sustainability for people and wildlife.

Collet says: “We take care of our children and parents and we are the breadwinners which gives us respect. We have respect for each other and we respect the wildlife.”

A word from Holly..

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How Many Elephants

How Many Elephants founder Holly Budge spent time with the Black Mambas and was inspired by their camaraderie and nurturing spirit: “Their job has empowered not only them personally but their families, their communities and beyond, she said.

“They are changing attitudes towards the role of women in Africa and beyond.”

Holly uses her background in design to show, without any gore, how 35,000 elephants are killed every year in Africa.

Watch Holly and the Black Mambas here: howmanyelephants.org/watch

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AND EDITOR LAURA WITH HER MUM

DAD

WHY I

donated...

...for my Dad, who never realised his chronic indigestion could shorten his life. Heartburn Cancer UK is helping to diagnose this aggressive, prevalent cancer earlier and save lives, says Laura Gelder My dad was always a healthy man. He seldom came down with doubled in the last 40 years and all people over 55 are sent a a cold and even in his 70s he wasn’t on any regular medication, screening test. But that doctor was right, oesophagus cancer - of other than Omeprezole to quell his chronic acid reflux. Before the food pipe - has a much bleaker outlook. that he managed it for years with Gaviscon and as a It’s the seventh most common cause of cancer death in the child I remember him swigging from huge bottles UK - fourth for men - and we have the worst survival of it. He was a sailor but I always thought he record in the world for it. Only 12% of people looked like a pirate, knocking back his grog. survive oesophagus cancer for 10 or more years, When he retired Mum and I worried he compared to 53% for bowel cancer, 75% for Tell your friends and family would be lost without the work he was so breast cancer and 78% for prostate cancer. about the dangers of persistant passionate about, but he threw himself That’s because it’s often not detected until it’s heartburn and find out how into cycling, doing up his yacht, Phoenix too late, although even those with stage one you can hugely reduce the risk of getting oesophagus cancer and making friends in the boat yard. He oesophagus cancer have a relatively low 55% heartburncanceruk.org had just over five years of his well-earned chance of surviving five years or more. retirement before he was diagnosed with Heartburn Cancer UK raises awareness of stage four oesophagus cancer. He’d had Barrett’s oesophagus, a condition that occurs absolutely no symptoms. It was the secondary when the cells lining the gullet are too exposed to cancer they found - a tumour on his shoulder. acid and change shape. Ten per cent of people with Dad had been complaining of pain there for weeks chronic heartburn unknowingly have Barrett’s and one in and had even been referred to a physiotherapist for a frozen 10 of those will go on to develop cancer. shoulder. It wasn’t until he fell over in Waitrose that he went for Imagine if my dad had known all this - he might have started an x-ray and they found it. What followed was a biopsy and three taking properly prescribed medication years earlier, instead of months of investigations with a doctor specialising in ‘cancers of just knocking back the Gaviscon. And if he’d known that he had an unknown primary’. At first they thought it might be prostate Barrett’s he would have had regular check-ups and his cancer or blood cancer; then he had a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy. could have been detected earlier. The burning question for me is: When he finally got his diagnosis the doctor said matter-of-factly: would he still be here? I think the answer is yes.

“It’s a shame it wasn’t bowel cancer, that has a much better My dad loved life. He had so much more to give, so many survival rate than oesophagus.” adventures planned, and he’s terribly missed by everyone who Bowel cancer was once considered a ‘bad’ cancer, but knew him. I donate to Heartburn Cancer UK to make sure according to Cancer Research, UK survival rates have more than everyone knows that heartburn isn’t always harmless.

Education is key

59% of oesophagus cancer die of cases are oesophagus cancer preventable in the UK each year

8,000

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Oesophagus cancer rates in men have risen since the early 1970s

57% 12%

Just of people survive oesophagus cancer for 10+ years .

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The end of the RAINBOW Valetta

How is it that a country rooted in traditional Catholic values has become the world’s most LGBTQfriendly holiday destination?

TRITONS’ FOUNTAIN, VALLETTA

M

alta has topped the Europe Rainbow Index for the last five years in a row – a list compiled by ILGA-Europe which works towards equality and human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people in Europe and Central Asia.

The 49 European countries on the index are ranked on how their laws and policies impact on the lives of LGBTQ people and Malta is streaking ahead with a score that’s a whopping 15% higher than Belgium, which lies in second place.

This sun-scorched archipelago, made up of the three islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, is quintessentially Mediterranean but at the same time curiously British and with a cuisine which straddles

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Sicilian and Arabic. No wonder the islands have such a welcome and accepting culture!

Same-sex relations were legalised in Malta in 1973, six years after the same law passed in England and Wales, but in more recent years increasingly progressive and inclusive laws have helped push Malta up the Rainbow Index, way past the UK. In 2014 Malta became the first European state to enable people to change their gender identity by completing an affidavit with a notary. In 2015 it became the first country in the world to outlaw sterilisation and invasive surgery on intersex people. Malta was also the first European country to ban gay conversion therapy, in 2016,

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stating that anyone who tries to cure, change, repress or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation will be fined or jailed. And in 2017 Malta introduced the neutral ‘X’ gender marker for official documents.

Passports were issued with them the next year – something ruled unlawful by the UK Court of Appeal last year.

But if you walk the streets of Malta’s honey-hued capital Valletta, you’d never guess it was particularly progressive or that a vibrant gay party scene pulses just up the coast in St. Julian’s. You might notice the bright red British phone boxes that dot the streets – Malta only gained independence from the UK in 1964 – but you’ll certainly not miss the many churches.

Although the influence of the

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COMINO

church has lessened in Malta, the golden skyline is still dotted with the soaring spires and domes of 25 churches, which helped the capital gain UNESCO World Heritage status.

The pinnacle of the vista is the beautiful dome of Catholic church, the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, but the most famous is St John’s Co-Cathedral.

This gilded baroque treasure trove was built in 1577 by the Order of MindOut is a mental health the Knights of St John service run by and for lesbians, – a Catholic Military gay, bisexual, trans, and queer people. It works to improve the Order established in mental health and wellbeing by the Vatican to care of LGBTQ communities. for pilgrims in the Holy mindout.org.uk Land. Priceless works of art adorn the interior of this gold and marble church, include Caravaggio’s Beheading of St John the Baptist.

You can’t help but wonder what these celibate and deeply religious knights would think about their island today. Malta has become something of a party destination,

Out & happy

Malta Pride Week, sadly cancelled this summer due to Covid-19.

The first Malta Pride was in 2004 and drew a small group of around 100 people, including activists, the then Education Minister Louis Galea and two other MPs, who walked under a rainbow of balloons through Republic Street in Valletta.

The event now welcomes thousands of marchers from all around the world with its eye-catching floats and street performers, rainbow flags and balloons, all greeted with waves from passers by and local shop owners. It’s now followed by a Pride Concert and numerous after-parties scattered across the island.

Malta isn’t all about the party scene though. It’s packed full of beautiful beaches for relaxing as well as pretty towns and historic sites to explore – including the Ġgantija temples, the oldest freestanding buildings in the world – and lots of activities to keep sporty types entertained.

WRECK DIVE

Malta Pride now welcomes thousands of marchers from all around the world with its eye-catching floats and street performers, rainbow flags and balloons

WALKING ON GOZO

VALLETTA STREETS

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where revellers worship upon the alter of the DJ. Even in Valletta there is the somewhat ironically named Strait Street, which has long been a hotbed of hedonism thanks to the sailors who once frequented its bawdy bars and boarding houses in the 1960s.

Party central in Malta is Paceville – located in St. Julians – where the club and bar scene ranges from multi-level disco Michelangelo Club Lounge to Klozet Club’s flamboyant drag shows. There are lots of other great gay night spots across the islands though – Rubies Bar in San Gwann is known for its karaoke and gay-friendly Birdcage Lounge hosts a cabaret show in Rabat.

Malta also hosts numerous festivals and events, including its famous

Don’t miss out on...

• Diving into Gozo’s Blue Hole: Malta is consistently voted the top scuba diving destination in Europe and that’s because it offers something for beginners all the way up to advanced and technical divers – with accessible reefs as well as exciting caves and shipwrecks. The Blue Hole is most famous dive site. You must clamber over the rocks to enter this sheltered pool, cut off from the open sea. It’s a limestone sinkhole with walls covered in colourful coral tubeworms, sponges and other small marine life. Divers usually sink to nine metres before passing through an underwater window into the deep blue open sea.

• Crossing the harbour to the Three

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Boo

rip to Ma lt at

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home from the 12th century onwards. Once you enter the gate you can wander the narrow, shady streets, stopping to admire its baroque palaces and ancient churches. Finish at the Fontanella Tearooms for drinkable views and delicious cake.

• Swimming off the lonely isle of Comino: Between Malta and Gozo, Comino has no roads or cars and is virtually uninhabited – save for one hotel. Stark and barren, this old

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SLIEMA, LOOKING TO VALLETTA

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Cities: From Valletta, take a brightly painted Dgħajsa boat across the Grand Harbour to the three cities of Vittoriosa (or Birgu), Senglea and Cospicua. Made famous by many Hollywood blockbusters, this vast waterway has been a hub of maritime activity for more than 2,000 years and it bobs with vast cruise ships as well as tiny fishing boats. Once on the other side you can appreciate the alternative view of Valletta as well as the historic streets and waterside restaurants of these adjacent fortified cites, which were the original home of the Knights of St. John.

• Wandering the streets of the ‘silent city’: Mdina is a 4,000 yearold walled city which was once the capital of Malta. Sitting in the middle of the island, it offers spectacular views of rural Malta and beyond to the sea. It’s still home to Malta’s noble families, some descendants of the Norman, Sicilian and Spanish overlords who made Mdina their

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SAN BLAS BEACH, GOZO

pirate’s haunt’s rocky shores slope into spectacularly clear water. A favourite with day-trippers is the Blue Lagoon, a sheltered inlet of shimmering azure water over white sand. Other beaches include Santa Marija Bay and San Niklaw Bay.

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