On Friday, 22nd April, Rotarians, Peter Eigenbroth and Erik Tornoe and their partners visited Worldwaterworks Limited, home of the Rotary Water-Survival Box project. This is located at the Westfield Business Centre, Westfield Trading Estate.

Their visit follows on from a donation of £15,000 made at their Rotary District Conference held in Aalborg, Denmark last October when Rotarian, Hugo Pike, gave a presentation on the Water-Survival Box project. Peter and Erik are members of the Rotary Club of Han Herred, near Aalborg and Peter is the current District Governor comprising 59 Rotary Clubs in the north-west of Denmark.

During the morning, they took part in a packing session involving trustees of the registered charity and other members of the Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge. The aim is to complete packing 100 Water-Survival Boxes (paid for by their donation) so that they will be ready to be sent to the next natural or manmade disaster. In addition to the normal contents, the boxes will also have a small present from Denmark – a packet of Lego bricks and a soft toy – for children of the recipient families. Each box will be additionally labeled to show that it was paid for by Rotarians in Denmark.

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 and simple tools, 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 eight 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 nine years a total of 11,500 WSBs has been sent in response to 47 disasters in 27 different countries across the world and helped protect some 110,000 people from water borne disease. During 2015 a total of 2,300 WSBs were sent to eight disasters in 7 different countries including 500 to Nepal following the earthquakes that struck in April and May. The latest consignments have gone to Syria (for refugees from conflict) and India (families displaced by extreme monsoon floods).

Erik Tornoe said: “Our rotary club are also promoting Shelter Boxes which contain tents, so we have a committee to help promote these boxes.”

Peter said: “Its a very interesting project and a cheap solution to help a lot of people.”