International development organisation, WaterAid, has one clear purpose: to give everyone in the world access to clean, safe water and sanitation. Back in 2012, Met Office staff opted to make WaterAid their chosen charity - and have since raised over £12,000 to support its work.
It takes just £15 to give one person a supply of clean water, improved hygiene and toilets - and since its foundation in 1981, WaterAid has reached over 19 million people. It is an excellent example of how small donations can mount up to make a big difference.
Isabelle Herszenhorn of WaterAid is quick to praise the relationship between her organisation and the Met Office, describing it as a 'great success'. Applying the £15 per person formula, calculates that "Met Office fundraising has helped over 800 people gain access to safe water and sanitation."
Working together
Of course, raising money is one thing - but putting it to work in the best way possible is something else entirely. It takes a measured and respectful approach and one that puts the community first at every stage.
Isabelle explains that, at the start of a project, WaterAid consults with local communities, listening to the challenges they face and designing specific solutions in response. Then, once the plans are in place, they use locally sourced materials to build sustainable water and sanitation points. The final step is to train people within the communities so they have the skills to maintain the equipment far into the future.
For the long term
The importance of WaterAid's long-term approach to clean water and sanitation can't be overstated - nor can its success. Isabelle points to a project set up in Ethiopia, way back in 1994. At the time, it was a groundbreaking scheme that used the force of gravity (and a lot of pipes) to take clean water from two high mountain springs to around 50,000 people in towns and villages in the lowlands. Twenty years on and the pipes are still going strong, thanks to training put in place by WaterAid and the diligent care of the system by local communities.
Having access to clean water has a huge impact on the communities WaterAid reaches. As well as reducing sickness, having water points nearby means that village girls must no longer spend hours each day collecting water. The time they save on this backbreaking task is spent at school, laying the foundations of a better future for themselves and their families. It also means that they can avoid the inevitable dangers of attack whilst they're in the bush searching for somewhere to go to the toilet.
Projects like this highlight how clean water and efficient sanitation are essential steps towards empowering the world's poorest people - a fact that WaterAid is determined to place high on the international agenda.
A global vision
There is much still to do. Today, one in ten people around the world don't have access to clean water, and one in three are without sufficient sanitation. But WaterAid is striving to rectify this - not only by working directly with communities but also with governments and other organisations. Their message is to view safe water and sanitation as basic human rights and to act now to provide it for everyone.
That, in short, is WaterAid's overriding vision; that everyone, everywhere will have access to these most fundamental of human needs by 2030. And, as Isabelle points out, their work wouldn't be possible without the continuing support of people worldwide:
"I'm really proud to be part of this fantastic organisation, with its army of supporters who do all sorts of wonderful things for us."
- To find out more please go to www.wateraid.org
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