Belu generates £1 million in one year for WaterAid to bring clean water around the world

on
20 March 2019
In
Partnership
Tahina-26-splashes-in-clean-water-from-the-water-point-next-to-her-house-in-Bongolava-Madagascar-September-2017
Image: WaterAid/Sam James

Download photos

Eight years into their unique partnership, pioneering social enterprise and ethical water company Belu has given a total of £4 million to WaterAid to help transform hundreds of thousands of lives with clean water. 

From 2011 to 2014, Belu delivered over £500,000 to WaterAid. Belu’s goal to give WaterAid £1 million in 2018 alone has now become a reality, as the business continues to grow and expand their offering in filtration systems as part of the Belu Filter Initiative. 

This provides a free filtration system to restaurants, who in return to raise voluntary £1 contributions with their guests for unlimited still or sparkling filtered water.

By giving 100% of their profits to WaterAid’s work, Belu sets an important example of how charities and businesses with shared values can work together to create social change and transform lives across the world.

The success of the partnership lies in their shared vision to bring clean water, decent sanitation and good hygiene to everyone, everywhere by 2030. It also proves that a social enterprise can deliver significant impact at scale through trading. So far, this collaboration has helped more than 270,000 people in the world’s poorest and hardest to reach communities.  

Belu CEO, Karen Lynch, says: 

“When you see how the profits from your business are transforming lives, it changes your view on the purpose of business forever. Generating over £1 million in net profit in just one year for the first time this year highlights the positive impact of our partnership with WaterAid. Thanks to the ongoing support of our customers and partners, we have the opportunity to enable communities around the world to change their lives for the better. 

“We remain firmly committed to supporting WaterAid’s mission to provide clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene around the world, and are looking forward to many more years in which our work will have a positive impact for those living in the world’s poorest and most remote communities.”

One in nine people around the world still don’t have clean water close to home, while one in three don’t have a decent toilet of their own. Working with its partners around the world, WaterAid has reached 26.4 million people clean water and 26.3 million with decent toilets since 1981. 

WaterAid Chief Executive Tim Wainwright said: 

“We all have a role to play in making clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone around the world. Businesses of all sizes are crucial in bringing about the step change needed to meet this global challenge.

“Belu continues to set an example by showing the global impact a business can achieve by prioritising social outcomes and linking up with like-minded partners. After the successes of the past eight years of partnership and the acceleration of Belu’s business, I can’t wait to see what we can do together in the years to come.” 

ENDS

For more information, please contact:
Yola Verbruggen, Senior Media Officer, [email protected] or +44 (0)207 793 4909, or Laura Crowley, PR manager, [email protected]  or +44 (0)207 793 4965

Or call our after-hours press line on +44 (0)7887 521 552 or email [email protected]

Notes to Editors:

WaterAid

WaterAid’s vision is of a world where everyone has access to clean water and sanitation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 34 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 25.8 million people with clean water and 25.1 million people with decent toilets. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org/uk, follow @WaterAidUK or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid.

  • 844 million people in the world – one in nine – do not have clean water close to home.[1]

  • 2.3 billion people in the world – almost one in three – do not have a decent toilet of their own.[2]

  • Around 289,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's almost 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.[3]

  • Every £1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of £4 in increased productivity.[4]

  • Just £24 can provide one person with clean water.[5]

  • To find out if countries are keeping their promises on water and sanitation, see the online database www.WASHwatch.org

Belu 

Belu’s mission is to inspire all that there is a better way of doing business, and that through business, they can do more than make money, they can help solve some of the world’s problems too.

Belu provides hotels, restaurants and catering providers with natural British mineral water, filtration systems and refillable bottles with the lowest carbon footprint possible. As the UK’s most ethical water company and social enterprise, their goal is a world in which everyone, everywhere, has clean water to drink. They give 100% of profits to the charity WaterAid to help transform lives worldwide with clean water. 

Belu is carbon neutral, making a forward commitment to reduce carbon footprint each year.
Their Ethical Glass bottles are made from recycled content and are 100% recyclable. They remain the first and only water brand to have achieved the independent British Standard Institute’s carbon neutrality standard, PAS 2060. 

For more information, visit belu.org or follow @Beluwater on Twitter. 

[1] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines

[2] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines

[3] washwatch.org

[4] World Health organization (2012) Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage

[5] www.wateraid.org/uk