Councillor Alan Hale, Chairman of Bath and North East Somerset
Council, took part in a packing session of new Water-Survival Boxes last Thursday, 8th December.
His visit coincided with the second of two packing sessions in which the organisation’s
visitors were all employed by B&NES Council and chose to visit as part of the Council’s support for ‘Community Volunteering’.
Members of the Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge were on hand to supervise and support the visiting packers during the afternoon.
The Water-Survival Box project arose from the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean and contains a water purification pack to provide clean drinking water and a range of essential survival items.
These include utensils for feeding and drinking, health and hygiene items, basic
shelter, simple tools and various household items. All the contents are newly-purchased and the preferred method of delivery is by air freight, so that the boxes can be distributed to the survivors of disaster within days, rather than the weeks or months taken before.
Worldwaterworks Limited is managed by seven senior members of the Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge who are also trustees of the registered charity. Since 2008, the Water-Survival Box project has been one of the ‘Opportunities to Serve’ approved for all Rotary Clubs throughout Britain and Ireland.
During the past ten years, a total of 12,500 WSBs has been sent in response to fifty disasters in 27 different countries across the world and helped protect some 115,000 people from water borne disease.
During 2015, a total of 2,300 WSBs were sent to eight disasters in seven different countries including Nepal (earthquake), Syria (for refugees from conflict) and India (families displaced by extreme monsoon floods). In 2016, a further 1,000 boxes were sent to three disasters in Syria (refugees), Ecuador (earthquake) and Haiti (Hurricane Matthew).
The standard box contains a water-purification kit and other essential survival items and costs £150. This covers the cost of the box, contents, and air freight to the disaster area. The new Aquafilter Family water purification kit can supply 100,000 litres of clean water, which is the equivalent of ten litres a day for each member of a family of five for five years – or would cater for 100 people for three months.
In order that we can continue to respond at the same level to future disasters, we need sustained funding in the order of £150,000 – £200,000 each year. Cheques should be made payable to ‘Worldwaterworks Limited’ and sent to Broadway House, Third Avenue, Westfield Trading Estate, Midsomer Norton BA3 4XD.