
Last year we brought safe water to 150,000 people in communities around the world
484 words approx. 2 minutes to read.
Our Co-op has a long history of supporting communities around the world, thanks to our partnerships with The One Foundation and Water Unite. Last year we brought safe water to 150,000 people around the world through clean water projects.
Water #TheCoopWay
We donate 3p for every litre sold of Co-op branded water* to The One Foundation and 1p for every litre sold of branded water to Water Unite. In total, during 2017, we raised £1.3 million from Co-op water and over £400,000 from our new commitment on branded water – taking our total to over £1.7 million to fund clean water projects.
When Co-op Members choose Co-op branded water they also benefit their local community, through our Local Community Fund. Co-op Members earn 5% backon select Co-op products and services, as well as1% back for their choice of local community cause.
Thanks to you buying water at Co-op in 2017, you have helped us;
- raise £1.7 million for clean water projects
- reach 150,00 people with clean water
- repair 300 broken water pumps
- drill 10 new boreholes
Our work has been building sustainable water systems in four African countries, Rwanda, Malawi, Kenya and Ghana and we have been able to provide water for four humanitarian crises.
26,000 people in Nairobi now have access to clean water
In Nairobi, Kenya, we built pipelines that have enabled low-income communities gain easier access to clean water. These pipelines deliver piped water to community water-kiosks and tap stands.
This infrastructure, combined with education for residents and landlords, has helped reduce exploitation from cartels using illegal water connections.
Watch Dorcas explain the difference her family water stand has meant to her:
48,625 people in Malawi alone have been reached with our clean water projects
In 2017, we upskilled local community members to enable them to manage, maintain and repair their own water points in the future. For the first time we piloted school workshops and after school clubs on pump maintenance to build a new generation of skills that will keep water flowing in their communities.
All this was in addition to our continued programme of providing new water points through drilling boreholes and building gravity fed water systems.
Around 884 million people around the world have no access to clean water so there’s still a lot of work to do. Thanks to the support of Co-op Members we are able to help people in communities around the world where water is shockingly scarce. Having been to Malawi and seen the positive change our work brings, I’m absolutely committed to making as big an impact as we can.
CJ Antal-Smith
Director of Trading Ambient & Non-Food
Read more about water #TheCoopWay;
- Co-op becomes the first retailer to join the Global Investment Fund for Water (now Water Unite)
- We’re supporting the DEC Myanmar appeal, with 50k from our own brand water
[…] Co-op branded water makes a difference to communities around the world. We donate 3p for every litre sold water to The One Foundation and, 1p for every litre sold of […]
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[…] Co-op branded water makes a difference to communities in the UK and around the world. We donate 3p for every litre sold water to The One Foundation and, 1p for every litre sold of […]
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Thank you, Gilly. ^Ian
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I think this is a wonderful contribution by the Co-op, for which to help those less privileged than ourselves.
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Brilliant work
Thank you
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