Our History
Transaid has been an independent organisation since 1998, but its history goes back some 11 years earlier. Chris Saunders OBE, Transaid's CEO, tells the story of how Save the Children UK, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport UK, a group of dedicated individuals from the UK transport industry and our patron, HRH The Princess Royal, inspired and built the practical, professional development charity that Transaid is today.
A shared past
Both Transaid and I have enjoyed a long association with Africa and with Save The Children. I spent 17 years with Save the Children UK before joining Transaid in 2004, working as Country Programme Director in Zimbabwe and Head of the Southern Africa Regional Office.
Working in Africa brought the importance of efficient and effective transport into sharp focus. In Zimbabwe, Save the Children operated a fleet of 30 vehicles to support its project activities, and the effective management of that fleet was a critical cost issue for the programme, particularly during the Southern Africa drought in the early 1990s when we undertook a major role in drought relief work in the Zambezi Valley. I also had my first contact with the team that was to become Transaid when I accompanied a volunteer transport specialist to South Africa to assess the capacity of the private sector to assist in drought relief work in Mozambique.
Royal inspiration
The inspiration for Transaid can be squarely attributed to HRH The Princess Royal. When reviewing Save the Children’s relief operations in Ethiopia, The Princess realized that up to 25% of its budget was being spent on transport in an emergency and that donated funds could be spent more efficiently and effectively if development agencies had access to high level professional transport and distribution skills. The transport industry is extremely close to The Princess’s heart and, as Patron of both Save The Children and the Chartered Institute of Transport (CIT), as it was then, she saw an opportunity to bring the two organisations together and challenged the industry, through the CIT to respond.
Rising to the challenge
Dr Geoffrey Myers (then International President of the CIT) took up the challenge. The first Transaid was established within Save the Children (UK) as a voluntary group of transport industry individuals. Peter Linney, who like Geoff had just retired from a senior position in British Rail, took up the day to day management of Transaid. The British Railways Board provided office space and administrative support. Over the next 10 years, Transaid volunteers, from organisations such as TNT, P&O and the British Army, carried out a number of short-term projects. In those days, the focus was largely on emergency operations, rather than long-term development, and projects included a review of the potential to handle containerised emergency supplies through Mozambique ports and the specifications for an emergency ambulance service in Swaziland. The transport management handbook for Save The Children was also written.
-
Thinking long-term
In the early 1990's Geoff and Peter began to think about the role of transport in development, and particularly how lack of transport impacted on the delivery of essential services such as health and education. Research with the Ministry of Health in Ghana led to the realisation that a lack of management skills, rather than a lack of transport, was causing a bottleneck in the delivery of everyday health services.
A two-year Save the Children project started in the Ministry of Health in Ghana in early 1993. This was the first long-term programme of its kind by Transaid and marked a shift in focus towards sustainable development.
The Transport Management System is born
The work in Ghana reduced transport management to its most simple form, capable of being run by non-technical managers using a pencil and paper, and the first Transaid Transport Management Handbook plus a set of training materials were produced as a result. A motorcycle management and training component was also introduced. This was implemented by Riders for Health (then also part of Save the Children) and led to the implementation of a zero breakdown motorcycle fleet on the largest scale seen in Africa. The success of the programme in Ghana highlighted the immense value to be gained from a focus on transport management and led to a number of similar requests being received from other countries.
Focus on health
From 1995 to 1998, transport for healthcare projects were carried out in South Africa, Mozambique, Pakistan, Namibia, and Ethiopia. These projects were carried out mainly by Save the Children staff, but still called upon the expertise of industry volunteers as required.
In late 1997, the opportunity to implement a large transport management project across the whole of the department of health in South Africa (funded by the British Department for International Development) arose. At the time, Save the Children was reviewing the focus of its programmes and felt that the transport side of their work had now outgrown the organisation. Transaid was established as an independent organisation and charity on the 18th February 1998, and started work on the 1st April that year. An initial grant from Save the Children, and additional support of Stagecoach, TNT and White Arrow set the organisation on its way towards becoming the charity that is known today.
An independent vision
Sarah Nancollas, who had been technical advisor on the Ghana programme, was appointed Chief Executive. Sarah continued to develop Transaid’s relationship with the transport industry and developed a broad base of Transaid Member Companies, who continue to provide the core funding for Transaid to operate, and second their staff to share the best practice of UK industry.Today, the Transaid Transport Management System that was born in Ghana in 1993 has evolved and been implemented in 14 countries. The Ghanaians who were trained now travel all over Africa sharing what they learnt with other public sector workers.
The future
Transaid is now beginning to focus more intensively on livelihoods work, based on the knowledge that Africa needs an efficiently run transport system in order to provide better opportunities to trade and make a living. Improving the efficiency, safety, availability and professionalism of commercial transport will create work opportunities in the industry, reduce transport costs, open up trade and make basic goods and services more available and affordable.
This is what is meant by sustainable development, looking at the root causes of problems and building the skills and knowledge of local people to tackle them. It isn’t quick and it isn’t easy, but we believe it is the only way we will make a lasting difference.
However, the amount of high profile natural disasters in recent years has brought attention back to the relationship between logistics and emergency aid and Transaid has played an advisory role in the development of two new, humanitarian initiatives - the development of the new Fritz Institute Certificate in Humanitarian Logistics and providing advice to the new CILT Humanitarian Logistics and Emergency Programme (HELP).
One thing which remains unchanged is transport’s importance to the health and wealth of all nations. Trucks, trains and ships are so highly visible on the world’s roads, railways and seas, but the essential goods and services that they carry, and the millions of people who work behind the scenes to get them where they need to go, remain largely invisible and forgotten.
Transaid has been built on the knowledge that skilled people make transport work. It’s up to us to find ways to build those skills where they’ll make the most difference and to continue to harness the skills of the best in the transport industry.
