Worth More Alive X

WMA X

Back in 2020, Exodus Travels’ expert guide, award-winning wildlife photographer and conservationist, Paul Goldstein aimed to raise a huge £100,000 for the protection and conservation of the endangered Bengal tigers supported by the Exodus Travels Foundation, by running both the London and Everest Marathons in his iconic 14ft Bengal tiger suit.

However, due to travel restrictions with the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul postponed his marathons to 2021/2022 and will be completing an additional race, the Brighton Marathon come 12th September 2021. Shortly following this, he will run the London Marathon on 3rd October and then travel out to Nepal to complete the gruelling Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon that will take place on 29th May 2022.

We are thrilled to confirm that to date, Paul has already raised an impressive £65,530 towards his fundraising target, thanks to the incredible generosity of so many friends, clients and Exodus Travels Foundation supporters – thank you to each and every one of you who has donated. Paul (and his tiger suit) are looking forward to smashing the £100,000 target come May 2022.

Money raised so far

All donations will go towards the rebuilding and equipping of two schools in Bandhavgarh, on the boundaries of the National Park famous for its tiger population. By providing 1,000 local children with an education effectively underwritten by conservation, this initiative will help highlight to the surrounding communities the benefits of their striped neighbours and contribute to the protection of tigers from poachers.

The £65,530 raised so far is enough to fund a large part of the vital rebuilding work at Sal & Mahua schools. Despite delays to the building work caused by lockdowns in India, our partners have already been able to build the protective boundary walls around both schools and install solar water pumps, supplying schools with clean drinking water. They have also constructed school kitchens and toilets and planted hundreds of saplings in the school grounds.

Paul’s continued fundraising efforts over the following year will enable the next stages of building and renovation work, including the construction of playgrounds and provision of sporting materials, and the equipping of a library to help accelerate the children’s learning.

We’d like to take this opportunity to express a wholehearted thank you to all who have donated so generously to date, and made this life-changing work possible.

If you’d like to find out more information on our Worth More Alive X campaign and how to donate, click here.