Royal recognition for adventurous Lochinver WaterAid supporter
A Lochinver man has received royal recognition for his epic fundraising efforts for WaterAid, including a 100-day solo row attempt across the Atlantic on a homemade boat.
Duncan Hutchison, 54, was awarded the President′s Award by WaterAid - the highest honour that the charity can give; an award acknowledged and signed by the charity’s President, HRH Prince Charles.
The father of three raised over £30,000 and gained widespread national support last June during his mammoth undertaking to row solo 3,000 miles from New York to Lochinver, helping raise awareness of the millions of people around the world who are denied access to clean water and decent toilets. The money Duncan raised could help WaterAid reach nearly 1,500 people with access to clean water.
Duncan said:
“I’m honoured to receive the reward and grateful that my adventures have made a difference to people’s lives by helping to provide them with their basic human rights of water, toilets and good hygiene. It was an incredible experience for me and a challenge that proves ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they really want to.”
Duncan, a former RNLI Lifeboat man, was 101 days into his adventure and within 900 miles of the Cornish coast when he had no choice but to radio for help after the electricity and navigation on his wooden, self-made boat failed. He was picked up safely by a passing cargo ship and taken back to the US.
Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive at WaterAid said:
“We were all really inspired by the time, effort and danger Duncan put himself in to tackle one of the world’s most challenging oceans while raising money for WaterAid as well as vital awareness of the global water and sanitation crisis. There was no question that Duncan is a worthy President’s Award champion.”
ENDS
Download photos: https://wateraid.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wateraid/images/assetbox/67c27c7a-153c-47a3-b3d1-121616c0a92d/assetbox.html
Photos and videos from Duncan’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/duncanadrift
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WaterAid
WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 26.4 million people with clean water and 26.3 million people with decent toilets. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org/uk, follow @WaterAidUK or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or find WaterAid UK on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid.
- 785 million people in the world – one in ten – do not have clean water close to home.[1]
- 2 billion people in the world – almost one in four – do not have a decent toilet of their own.[2]
- Around 310,000 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 £15 can provide one person with clean water.[5]
[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] Prüss-Ustün et al. (2014) and The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2018)
[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
