As India faces a deadly second wave of Covid-19, international organisation WaterAid has launched an emergency appeal to bring vital water, toilet and hygiene facilities to health centres and vulnerable communities as well as urgent support to frontline sanitation workers to help protect lives. The country is seeing more than 400,000 new cases every day and, with the exodus of people from the cities, this horrific wave has now spread to parts of rural India, threatening to overburden local health centres with weak infrastructure that are unprepared for such a…
Read MoreTag: wateraid
Ellie Simmonds invites swimmers to take the plunge with a challenge for WaterAid as indoor pools reopen
To mark the reopening of indoor swimming facilities, British Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds OBE is encouraging people to take the plunge and sign up for a swimming challenge while supporting WaterAid. The international organisation is launching its very own Swim Marathon challenge this summer and is also the official 2021 Charity Partner for the Great Swim Series, taking place this June. The Great Swim includes the UK’s biggest open water swimming event, the Great North Swim in the Lake District National Park and the Great East Swim in Suffolk. Previously, the events have attracted more than 12,000 swimmers and more than 40,000 supporters. This week’s reopening of indoor swimming…
Read MoreDougray Scott supports WaterAid’s mission to get clean water to all
Scottish actor Dougray Scott is supporting WaterAid’s mission to get clean water to everyone everywhere in his role as ambassador for the international charity. As NASA’s rover touches down on Mars to try and find water and evidence of life – one of three missions to the red planet this month – WaterAid is highlighting the lives lost every day because people don’t have clean water. Dougray, who has starred in Ripley’s Game, Enigma, My Week with Marilyn, Mission Impossible II, and The Woman in White, and is currently filming…
Read MoreWaterAid launches Zakat campaign to help transform lives with clean water
This Ramadan, WaterAid is inviting the Muslim community to support the charity’s Zakat appeal to help bring clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene to communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Mali. One of the five pillars of Islam, Zakat is an obligatory form of charity, every adult Muslim whose savings exceed a set minimum is required to donate 2.5% of accumulated savings to good causes that fall into specific categories. The international charity has collaborated with Islamic faith experts to develop a new Zakat policy and run projects that meet the principles of Zakat. For the first time, supporters can choose which country to support, with 100% of donations going directly to vulnerable communities. With clean water, children can stay…
Read MoreA third of Brits say Covid-19 has increased the value they place on water and 3 in 5 say we should be more water savvy, finds WaterAid
Nearly a third of Brits (31%) say the focus on hygiene during the pandemic has increased the value they place on water, with 3 in 4 (73%) now saying they appreciate having clean water at home, finds WaterAid. Just under half (49%) take steps to reduce the amount of water they use, whilst almost 3 in 5 (58%) think everyone should try to use less water. Meanwhile almost 1 in 5 (19%) Brits admit to leaving the tap running whilst brushing their teeth, which could collectively waste up to 246 million litres of water every single day – that’s enough to fill 98 Olympic-sized swimming pools. International charity WaterAid commissioned…
Read More