by Fern Shaw | Aug 31, 2016 | Christian Aid, Water
It’s a very important week in water this week, with the World Water Week summit taking place in Stockholm from 27 August to 02 September.
Participants from around the world will gather to convene events about water and development issues. It is also an opportunity for individuals from around the globe also present their findings at the scientific workshops.
The theme for this year’s summit is ‘Water for Sustainable Growth’.
Having recently returned from a visit to Ethiopia with Christian Aid, a charity that AquAid have partnered with since the company’s start in 1998; and having witnessed first-hand the vital need for water provision throughout the country, I can only concur that water provision to those that need it isn’t enough (although it’s a fantastic start!) – in order to make a difference in the long term – sustainable water provision is essential.
So, what can you do?
You can choose a water provider whose core belief is making a difference in other people’s lives. How so, you may ask? Well, simply put, AquAid have, from the start, donated to charities whose focus is on sustainable water provision. This means that for each bottle of water or water cooler purchase, a donation is made to these charities.
What do we do?
Of course, we’re a business and we operate on business principles. How we’re a little different is that a core business principle is to contribute to charities that make a difference. This is achieved through long standing relationships with charities such as Christian Aid and the AquAid founded Africa Trust.
Since our partnerships with these two charities began, AquAid have donated over £10 million to charity and more than 5 million people in more than 7 countries now have access to a better water source and a more sustainable ‘water’ future.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 22, 2016 | Water Coolers
We all remember the phantasmagorical 2012 Olympics held in the U.K. which, according to all reports, was a resounding success and now, four years later, we’re in the thick of things with the Let’s Go Rio Olympics.
And when I say the thick of things, I mean it, from broken limbs to athletes been sent home through to let’s just call it; men behaving badly pre- and post-events and then being called out about it. The temperatures are rising and it’s not just due to the weather!
On a more positive note, Rio 2016 is officially Great Britain’s best overseas Olympics after they surpassed not only the Beijing tally of 47 medals, but their own 2012 Olympics with 65 medals, by winning a total of an impressive 67 medals to date. Well done, Team GB!
There are so many considerations to be taken into account during the games, and not least, the athletes (indeed everyone involved) keeping themselves in tip top condition and ensuring that they keep themselves adequately hydrated.
Sports hydration, understandably, is quite different to the average person’s hydration requirements, so this will have been taken into account during this year’s Games, including factors such as the temperatures in Rio, despite it being winter in Brazil at the time of these Summer Olympics.
AquAid played a big part at the 2012 Olympics by ensuring that there was always water at and around the Olympic sites, whether it was for the spectators, the vendors, or the village itself. We can’t say that AquAid were present in Rio providing water and water coolers to all attending the Games, but we were definitely with Team GB in spirit and would like to extend a very sincere congratulation to Team GB for doing the UK proud!
by Fern Shaw | Aug 19, 2016 | Water
We can’t always be stats and measurements and water saving tips. Sometimes we just have to go with the flow (aha) and celebrate the joys of descriptive language.
Keeping it watery, here are a few words from A to Z (or thereabouts) to describe the liquid bringer of life (unless you’re a vampire of course, then it’s a different story):
Aqueduct
Brook
Cloudburst
Fluvial is a term used in geography and geology to refer to the processes associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them.
Monsoon
Oxbow – used to describe both a yoke for an ox and a particular shaped bend in a river. (I just learnt that – colour me proud!)
Precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapour that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel and hail. Say it with me now … pre …cip …ee … tation! Isn’t that satisfying? (Okay, I’ll admit, there’s a little Rocky Horror colouring that watery descriptive word).
Qanat – an underground tunnel for carrying irrigation water.
Watery
Aren’t they lovely? Say them with me now Clowed BURST! Floo…vee…owl Mon…sooooon.
Do you have any favourite words describing water in all its magnificent permutations? If so, please feel free to add them in the comments section.
by Fern Shaw | Jul 15, 2016 | Uncategorized
Summer is upon us – lift your hands in air and say – Hey ayyy! But what to do and where to go inside of our now less than frosty shores? Here are a few suggestions that may shine some light on your wintery grey matter:
Woodland Trust – The UK has centuries-old oaks, beeches and cedars – and the Woodland Trust is keen to protect our ancient trees. Help the trust by setting out to explore Britain’s oldest forests. Give a tree a hug to see how far your arms stretch round – they become important when the girth of the trunk is one to four arm spans.
Real Ale Trail – Create your own real ale trail by train for just a few bob. A hop-on, hop-off day return on the St Ives Bay Line in Cornwall will take you past real ale pubs in Lelant Saltings, St Erth, Penzance and St Ives. That’ll certainly put the hop in your journey!
Visit Flat Holm Island – Sail across the water to Flat Holm Island in the Bristol Channel and spend the day wildlife spotting. There are boat trips that can be arranged to the island to visit for the day or for longer stays.
Rooftop Films – Watch a movie al fresco during the Rooftop Film Club season, which runs until September 30, with screenings in Camden, Peckham, and Shoreditch. They’ll also take place at Somerset House and in Trafalgar Square.
Banksy art – Go in search of works by elusive graffiti artist Banksy – such as Grim Reaper, The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum and Well Hung Lover – in his home town of Bristol. Try a self-guided walking tour and visit some of the city’s bars and restaurants on the way.
Further north, how about some wonderful behemoth watching (no, I don’t mean ‘Nessie’):
Whale watching, Scottish Highlands – The waters around the Hebrides are home to a variety of whales in the summer months; more than 250 minke and pilot whales were spotted last year, along with rarer sightings of killer, fin and even humpback whales. Alongside the whales, there’s a good chance of seeing dolphins, porpoises and sharks, with white-tailed eagles and puffins in the skies above the boat.
There are oodles more of things to do, see and visit throughout the U.K. this summer; I’ve had to whittle these suggestions down from hundreds. Whatever you decide to do and wherever you go, remember the No. 1 rule of summer – rain or shine – keep your precious little self hydrated and make sure you take your drinking water with you.
by Fern Shaw | May 31, 2016 | Charity, Christian Aid, water cooler, Water Coolers
It’s not often that I can say that I’m truly overwhelmed. I may drama queen a little about being overwhelmed but that’s not often the case.
What I did find truly overwhelming was my recent nine day visit to Ethiopia at the behest of AquAid and at the invitation of a charity which AquAid have for years supported; Christian Aid.
Having worked in water provision and in close conjunction with the charities that AquAid support for a few years now, this is a matter that has taken on a great significance to me, as well as, I’m sure, everyone at AquAid. I’ve experienced daily how important it is to balance the business side as well as maintaining and perpetuating Paul Searle’s (AquAid’s founder) holistic philosophy of giving back. On the trip, though, I experienced this philosophy first hand.
Ethiopia is a magnificent country, that’s the only way that I can describe it. The Ethiopians are among the kindest, most hospitable and polite people I’ve met in my travels; the country is vast, the scenery is awe inspiring and the industriousness of the people is truly something to witness.
After a briefing at the Christian Aid offices in Addis Ababa, we departed on the first leg of our journey to visit the first of four projects in the south of the country. As our amazing driver, Girma, who would put any F1 driver to shame, negotiated his way through an endless progression of pedestrians, other road users which also included herds of cattle; sheep and goats as well as donkey, mule and horse carts, I observed something interesting. Every mile or so there were people walking. Not a gentle lollygagging type of walk, but walking with determination. Most were carrying yellow containers. Many of these people were very young children, some who looked to be no older than seven or eight years old.
When we passed a puddle on the side of the road, a river, a stream, there were people collecting water. I have no idea how many miles these people walked every day, but I imagine it was a good few miles at least. They shared the puddles with all manner of others including animals. These puddles were open to the elements, unprotected and quite a few puddles alongside certain stretches of road had all the detritus from the road and its passing traffic landing in them.
- The magnitude of what I was witnessing struck me – here is a country that has water in abundance (Ethiopia has more vast lakes than you can shake a stick at), but a large majority of its inhabitants live and work hundreds of miles away from these large sources of water. They are dependent on the weather – their water source more often than not from the rainfall; and the country experiences dry months for eight out of the twelve months of the year.
- This is where charities such as Christian Aid come in and have been doing so in the country since 1998 when they set up an office in Addis Ababa. Christian Aid and AquAid have been working in partnership since 2001, bringing relief and sustainable water provision to those in need around the globe.
We witnessed five such projects during our trip which I will detail in further articles, but having being there, the importance of having water or indeed, having access to water, truly struck home. Here were thousands of people to whom the struggle for water, stuff of life, wasn’t a turn of a tap or a press of a button away. Here, having water meant a day to day survival, where if you wanted water, you strapped plastic containers to yourself and you started walking, for miles and miles, looking for the precious stuff. You may get ‘lucky’ and find a big enough water puddle from which you could fill your containers, often you would not.
What also occurred to me (during and post trip) is how invaluable it is to have companies such as AquAid and even more invaluable – our customers who support AquAid. Because I truly witnessed the results of what charity means. For every person from each community that we visited who had water to drink, water to cook with, water to water their livestock and their crops, this was a direct result of donations to charity. Life changing stuff.
If you’d like to find out more about how your water cooler and bottled water purchases can make a difference to people’s lives (and I mean this literally), please get in contact. We’d love to hear from you.
