Wondering what gifts to buy this Christmas? WaterAid’s Shop for Life provides shoppers with the opportunity to give their loved ones something a bit different this year, while also helping people around the world get clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
WaterAid’s Shop for Life features e-gifts and greeting cards you can send to their loved ones revealing gifts of water tanks, handwashing stations and toilets to change lives for good.
The money raised from the gifts this festive season will help communities in Bangladesh and around the world affected by the climate crisis as part of WaterAid’s Water Means Life appeal.
Instead of gifting socks this Christmas, you can buy ‘a bog in a bag’ for just £10. Nearly one in five people don’t have a decent toilet of their own; this simple bag of cement will help build a hygienic and life-saving latrine.
Almost 2 billion people in the world – one in four – lack soap and/or water to wash their hands at home. Ditch the new jumper for £24, and instead buy handwashing stations for three families, or for £36 you could swap out the bathroom gift sets for squeaky clean toilets for a school.
Nearly one in ten people have no clean water close to home. For £60 – the price of a Christmas hamper – you can give the gift of a water tank that can ‘ho ho hold loads of clean H20’ for a community, helping improve people’s health as well as local farming initiatives.
‘There’s snow limit’ to the difference that can be made this Christmas by supporting WaterAid, helping communities like the Munda people in Betkhali village, Bangladesh, who have been severely affected by floods polluting their water sources. As a result, they have no choice but to use contaminated water for cooking and cleaning, while women walk long distances to collect clean water.
WaterAid is already working in nearby villages to help install rainwater harvesting tanks and taps that can withstand floods and storms. Through the Water Means Life appeal, WaterAid can support in Betkhali, too. With clean water nearby, everyone in this community will get the freedom they need to learn, earn and thrive.
Nick Miller, Mass Engagement Director at WaterAid, said:
“The climate crisis is a water crisis, with more frequent floods polluting fragile water sources and longer droughts drying up springs and wells. We can’t stop the weather, but we can help change its impact. Right now, WaterAid is working with partners and communities around the world to install water and sanitation facilities that can withstand the effects of extreme weather, helping communities build better lives.
“By gifting WaterAid’s greeting cards and e-gifts this Christmas, you can help change even more lives for good, because Water Means Life.”
Visit WaterAid’s Shop for Life to spread wonders this winter
