Tobias Menzies launches WaterAid’s Future on Tap appeal to bring clean water around the world
UK government to match donations made between 5 November 2020 and 4 February 2021 up to £2 million to help transform lives in Ethiopia
Actor Tobias Menzies (The Crown, Outlander, and Game of Thrones) is today launching WaterAid’s new fundraising appeal, Future on Tap, to bring clean water to thousands of families in Ethiopia and around the world.
Tobias, an ambassador for the international charity, is adding his support to the campaign ahead of the release of the fourth season of The Crown, which will be available on Netflix from 15 November. Tobias will be reprising his role of Prince Philip alongside Olivia Colman who plays Queen Elizabeth II and Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher.
WaterAid hopes to help transform thousands of lives across the world with clean water by raising £3 million during the appeal, which runs from 5 November 2020 to 4 February 2021. During this time, the UK government will match public donations to Future on Tap, up to £2 million, to bring clean water to 50,000 people in Ethiopia.
The money raised by the UK public will help families like Hawa’s in Frat, western Ethiopia. Hawa and her daughters spend hours each day walking the rocky path to collect dirty water from the river 2km from their village. They are afraid to go alone or at night as thieves are known to hide there. The changing climate is making life harder; with hotter summers and unexpected storms destroying crops, their only source of income.
Hawa Yimam-Mohamad said:
“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t touch the water with the tip of my finger, but I have to use it for washing, cleaning and drinking. People in our community suffer from diseases as a result; we spend a lot of money on hospital bills. I worry about my family.”
Match funding from the UK government will be used to bring sustainable water, toilet and hygiene facilities to communities in Berbere, which like Frat, is one of the poorest and most climate-vulnerable areas in Ethiopia where a lack of these basics is putting lives and livelihoods at risk. The project will include constructing flood-resistant community water points and accessible water and sanitation facilities in schools and health centres, as well as training communities to manage the facilities.
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Minister Baroness Liz Sugg said:
“Millions of families around the world are locked in to poverty because they lack even basic access to clean water or decent sanitation.
“With UK aid doubling the public’s generous donations to WaterAid’s new campaign, the money will go even further to help some of Ethiopia’s poorest communities thrive and build their resilience to a changing climate.”
Tobias Menzies said:
“It’s easy to take clean water for granted, but one in ten people lack access to this basic human right, and our changing climate is making life even harder for poor communities around the world.
“With clean water on tap, lives and livelihoods are protected. They can meet their basic needs, stay safe and healthy, have time to go to school or work, and can grow food even when the weather is unpredictable. I’m proud to support the Future on Tap appeal; the money raised will help bring clean water to thousands of people, transforming lives for good.”
Tobias will take part in WaterAid’s star-studded virtual Christmas concert on 8 December, giving a reading as part of the evening of merriment, festive songs and performances that will raise money for Future on Tap.
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Notes to Editors:
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 @WaterAid 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
UK Aid Match
UK Aid Match brings charities, the British public and the UK government together to collectively change the lives of some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. It is designed to provide opportunities for the UK public to engage with international development issues and to allow the British public to have a say in how UK aid is spent, whilst boosting the impact of the very best civil society projects to reach the poorest people in developing countries.
For every £1 donated to a UK Aid Match charity appeal by an individual living in the UK, the UK government will also contribute £1 of UK aid, up to £2 million, to help these projects go further in changing and saving lives.
Over the last six years, 111 organisations from across the UK have run UK Aid Match projects in 36 countries, helping around 25 million people*.
*statistics accurate as of September 2020
Match funding from the UK government will be used to bring sustainable water, toilet and hygiene facilities to communities in Berbere, one of the poorest and most climate-vulnerable areas in Ethiopia where a lack of these basics is putting lives and livelihoods at risk. The project will include constructing flood-resistant community water points and accessible water and sanitation facilities in schools and health centres, as well as training communities to manage the facilities. This includes:
- Form and train community WASH committees
- Renovate the existing spring development with flood protection
- Construct flood resistant community water points
- Install a new solar pumping system
- Construct gender and disability responsive WASH facilities in 3 Health Posts and 5 Schools
- Provision of portable water quality test kits and training
