Coming to the assistance of Kirklees, Bradford, Calderdale and Leeds schools in their preparation for the autumn term, Yorkshire Water is offering them a free talk or workshop which will teach the pupils about some of the issues with water and sanitation still plaguing some poorer countries. The spotlight will be on the limited access and complete unavailability in some instances, to safe water and sanitation.
The talks form part of the water company’s ‘Big Wish for Ethiopia’ campaign in conjunction with WaterAid, an international charity. The ultimate aim is to have clean water and toilets delivered to 170, 000 households across Ethiopia.
To assist in effectively getting the important message across, volunteering colleagues from the business are set to deliver educational talks throughout Yorkshire based schools as well as youth groups, highlighting just how important it is to have access to clean water and toilets. The aim is also to hopefully raise some funds for the campaign.
The magic number which Yorkshire Water aims to raise is no less than £1m by 2020, in line with their ambitions to bring an end to all the unnecessary deaths resulting from dirty water.
Anne Reed, corporate social responsibility manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “We have great partnerships with lots of schools and youth organisations across the region and deliver some really interesting and engaging talks for them. Our volunteer speakers are knowledgeable and enthusiastic and can really get the message across to pupils that access to clean water and sanitation is a life and death situation. We often don’t really know just how lucky we are in the UK to not have to worry about such basic things.”
“Our dream is that by 2030 everyone will have a tap and everywhere will have a toilet and I would encourage schools to help us spread this message. If you are interested in booking a talk, please visit: https://www.yorkshirewater.com/bigwish and return the booking form.”
In support of its work in Ethiopia, WaterAid has had £433, 188 raised by Yorkshire Water and its partners over the past two years.
June 2015 saw the company sending three experts to Ethiopia to share their expertise with the Ethiopian Minister of Water and Irrigation and managers from the twenty Water Utilities. The trio spent nine days in Ethiopia advising on water quality, leakage detection and asset management and their actions have helped to transform the lives of many.
