Give gifts of H2O ho ho and decent toilets this Christmas with WaterAid’s winter wonders

Download photos Visit WaterAid’s Shop for Life Wondering what gifts to buy this Christmas? WaterAid’s Shop for Life provides shoppers with the opportunity to give their loved ones something a bit different this year, while also helping people around the world get clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
WaterAid’s Shop for Life features e-gifts and greeting cards you can send to their loved ones revealing gifts of water tanks, handwashing stations and toilets to change lives for good.
The money raised from the gifts this festive season will help communities in Bangladesh and around the world affected by the climate crisis as part of WaterAid’s Water Means Life appeal.
Instead of gifting socks this Christmas, you can buy 'a bog in a bag' for just £10. Nearly one in five people don’t have a decent toilet of their own; this simple bag of cement will help build a hygienic and life-saving latrine.
Almost 2 billion people in the world – one in four – lack soap and/or water to wash their hands at home. Ditch the new jumper for £24, and instead buy handwashing stations for three families, or for £36 you could swap out the bathroom gift sets for squeaky clean toilets for a school.
Nearly one in ten people have no clean water close to home. For £60 - the price of a Christmas hamper – you can give the gift of a water tank that can ‘ho ho hold loads of clean H20’ for a community, helping improve people’s health as well as local farming initiatives.
‘There’s snow limit’ to the difference that can be made this Christmas by supporting WaterAid, helping communities like the Munda people in Betkhali village, Bangladesh, who have been severely affected by floods polluting their water sources. As a result, they have no choice but to use contaminated water for cooking and cleaning, while women walk long distances to collect clean water.
WaterAid is already working in nearby villages to help install rainwater harvesting tanks and taps that can withstand floods and storms. Through the Water Means Life appeal, WaterAid can support in Betkhali, too. With clean water nearby, everyone in this community will get the freedom they need to learn, earn and thrive.
Nick Miller, Mass Engagement Director at WaterAid, said:
“The climate crisis is a water crisis, with more frequent floods polluting fragile water sources and longer droughts drying up springs and wells. We can’t stop the weather, but we can help change its impact. Right now, WaterAid is working with partners and communities around the world to install water and sanitation facilities that can withstand the effects of extreme weather, helping communities build better lives.
“By gifting WaterAid’s greeting cards and e-gifts this Christmas, you can help change even more lives for good, because Water Means Life.”
Visit WaterAid’s Shop for Life to spread wonders this winterENDS
Download photosFor more information, please contact:
Hana Bel Haj, Media Team Assistant [email protected] or Laura Crowley, PR Manager [email protected]
Or call our after-hours press line on +44 (0)7887 521 552, or email [email protected].
Notes to Editors:
WaterAid
WaterAid is an international not-for-profit determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. We work alongside communities in 22 countries to secure these three essentials that transform people’s lives. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 28 million people with clean water and nearly 29 million people with decent toilets.
For more information, visit our website wateraid.org/uk, follow us on Twitter @WaterAidUK, @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress, or find us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.
- 2.2 billion people in the world – more than one in four – don’t have safe water.
- 703 million people in the world – almost one in ten – don’t have clean water close to home.
- Almost 2 billion people in the world – one in four – lack soap and/or water to wash their hands at home, if they have a place at all.
- 1.5 billion people in the world – almost one in five – don’t have a decent toilet of their own.
- 570 million people in the world – 1 in 14 – have a decent toilet but have to share it with people outside their family. This compromises the privacy, dignity and safety of women and girls.
- Almost 400,000 children under five die every year due to diseases caused by unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. That's more than 1000 children a day, or almost one child every one and a half minutes.
- Investing in safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene services provides up to 21 times more value than it costs.
[1] WHO/UNICEF (2023). Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022: special focus on gender. Available at: washdata.org/reports/jmp-2023-wash-households-launch (accessed 11 Jul 2023).
[2] WHO (2023). Burden of disease attributable to unsafe drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene: 2019 update. Available at: who.int/publications/i/item/9789240075610 (accessed 24 Jul 2023).
[3] WaterAid (2021). Mission-critical: Invest in water, sanitation and hygiene for a healthy and green economic recovery. Available at: washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/mission-critical-invest-water-sanitation-hygiene-healthy-green-recovery (accessed 1 Nov 2023).