The Wimbledon Foundation has teamed up with WaterAid for a further four years pledging £2.2 million to support the not-for-profit’s work to help communities around the world get clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
The Wimbledon Foundation, the charitable arm of The All England Lawn Tennis Club and The Championships, has already donated £1.5 million to WaterAid since 2017, helping bring these three essentials to healthcare facilities and communities in Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Myanmar and Nepal.
The new funding, announced ahead of World Water Day on 22 March, will build on this work and expand into other countries.
To mark the renewal of this impactful partnership, the Wimbledon Foundation and WaterAid are unveiling an exhibition called ‘Carrying Life: Motherhood and water in Malawi’ in Cabot Square in London’s Canary Wharf.
The collection of photographs by award-winning visual artist Laura El-Tantawy runs from 2 March to 11 April 2024, and highlights the hopes and fears of women waiting to give birth in health centres, which had no clean water or decent toilets until WaterAid helped install facilities with funding from the Wimbledon Foundation.
Paige Murphy, Head of Wimbledon Foundation, said:
“One in ten people around the world don’t have clean water close to home, having a devastating impact on health, education and livelihoods. In line with our goal to support healthy and active lives as the charity of an international sporting event, the Wimbledon Foundation is proud to continue championing clean water through our partnership with WaterAid.
“Through the Carrying Life exhibition, we wanted to bring the public’s attention to the realities of giving birth without the essentials that many of us take for granted and highlight the critical role that clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene in health centres plays in giving women and babies a healthy future.”
The new partnership will support the provision of water and sanitation facilities in three healthcare centres and ten villages in Malawi, where almost three quarters of the population do not have a decent toilet.
In Mozambique, where two in five people don’t have clean water close to home, WaterAid will help get clean running water and new toilets to six health centres.
And in Pakistan, where changing weather patterns are having a profound impact on water, sanitation and public health, the donation will be used to help communities ensure their water keeps flowing even in the face of the climate crisis.
Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive of WaterAid said:
“We’re delighted the Wimbledon Foundation has committed to supporting WaterAid for a further four years. Together, our work is helping change lives while also raising awareness of the global water crisis here in the UK. Thank you to the Wimbledon Foundation for helping to ensure healthy lives full of potential for tens of thousands of people.”