Funding help appeal by Walsall islander
An appeal for help has been launched by a Black Country man running a business on the other side of the world.
Alistair Coldrick has set up a Go Fund Me page to help him provide support to his staff at Dolphin Pacific, a whale watching tour service he runs in Tonga.
The 52-year-old moved to the Pacific in 2005 from Walsall after taking a career break from the fire service, following 10 years of service as a breathing operations instructor in Walsall and Wolverhampton.
He said: “I wasn’t interested in sticking around while the services were being cut at the fire service and I’d always liked the idea of moving to an island somewhere.
“Basically, I took a two-year career break and never went back as I found it to be such a beautiful place, with my home being right next to the water.”
He said he had started his whale watching business from his home in Vava’u as a whim despite not knowing anything about diving, but his knowledge of breathing apparatus had helped him get going.
The whale watching season was due to start in Tonga on July 1 and run until October, but the coronavirus pandemic had caused the island nation to close its borders and bring tourism to a virtual halt.
Alistair said the funding campaign was not to help him, but to help pay his staff members Ali Takau and Sekona Naitoko as he couldn’t afford to furlough them and they were earning nothing during this time.
He said: “We’ve had nothing come in since this pandemic started and if we are able to start work next year, they will have gone close to two years with no recognisable income.
“They can’t go off and find another job as there is literally nothing else they can do, so I hope people can see the bigger picture and help us out.”
Alistair is looking to raise £10,000 from his Go Fund Me campaign, with all funds raised going to his staff in monthly payments.
To donate, go to gofundme.com/f/whale-watching-crew-support
