WaterAid and Wimbledon Foundation create tennis ball mosaic highlighting how clean water saves children's lives
Tennis star Heather Watson champions clean water for all and healthy futures for children everywhere
WaterAid and the Wimbledon Foundation created a giant tennis ball mosaic of a young boy enjoying clean water, to highlight how more than 11,000 children’s lives could be saved during The Championships if everyone, everywhere had access to clean water and toilets.
It took artists from Sand in Your Eye 12 hours to create the tennis court-sized portrait near No.1 Court, showing ten-year-old Tefy from Antsakambahiny village in Madagascar who, with the help of WaterAid and partners including the Wimbledon Foundation, now has clean water at school and near his home.
Across the world, a staggering 771 million people – one in ten – live without clean water close to home and 1.7 billion people – one in five – do not have a decent toilet. Furthermore, over half of healthcare facilities in the least developed countries have no clean water on site.
Without access to these basic facilities, the lives of and children are needlessly put at risk, with around 800 children under five dying every day from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation. Many more are frequently ill or forced to spend hours out of school collecting water, compromising their education.
Tefy’s life has been transformed with clean water. He said:
“We no longer fetch water down the hill anymore since we have taps in our school. The water here is very clean and fresh. We can open the taps and drink water whenever we want. We can wash our hands at any time and even bathe here if we want.
“Every afternoon, after doing my homework, I always come near the school to play with my friends. We play football or hide and seek. I love being at school studying and being with my friends."
Former British No.1 tennis player Heather Watson is backing WaterAid and the Wimbledon Foundation as they champion clean water for all.
Heather Watson said:
“We are all united by our need for clean water; it is vital for good health, yet one in ten people around the world live without this essential resource close to home. Something as simple as turning on a tap and pouring a glass of water is not an option for millions of children globally. Many have no choice but to drink dirty water that can make them sick, or spend time walking to collect water instead of going to school, holding them back from reaching their full potential.
“The giant tennis ball mosaic is a poignant reminder of how more than 11,000 children’s lives could be saved during The Championships if everyone everywhere had clean water and toilets.
“Together, we can help solve the water crisis. That’s why I’m supporting the work of WaterAid and the Wimbledon Foundation, to create a global community where everyone has the clean water they need to survive and thrive.”
Paige Murphy, Head of the Wimbledon Foundation, said:
“Children should have the chance to play, learn and look forward to their futures, no matter where they are born. But millions are being held back due to a lack of clean water and decent toilets – things that so many of us take for granted. It is humbling to think 11,000 children’s lives could be saved during The Championships if they had access to these essentials.
“That is why the Wimbledon Foundation and WaterAid are uniting to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene a normal part of daily life for communities across the world. These vital services help relieve the burden on people’s time and energy and create new opportunities for education, paid work and raising a healthy family.”
The Wimbledon Foundation has been working in partnership with WaterAid since 2017 to help make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene a normal part of daily life in healthcare centres and communities across Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi and Myanmar. A donation of £1.2 million over three years will transform people’s health, keep children in school, and allow women and girls to unlock their potential.
The tennis balls for the mosaic were gifted by Slazenger, Official Ball of The Championships, and will be donated on to charities supported by the Wimbledon Foundation such as Rackets Cubed, a charity which delivers integrated racket sports, education and nutrition programmes to improve the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged young children.
Find out more about WaterAid’s work at wateraid.org
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Jemima Young, [email protected] or Anna France-Williams, [email protected]. Or call our 24-hour press line on +44 (0)7887 521 552.
Notes to Editors:
The Wimbledon Foundation
The Wimbledon Foundation is the official charity of The All England Lawn Tennis Club and The Championships. The Foundation uses the collective strength of Wimbledon to make a positive difference to people’s lives locally, nationally and internationally.
The Wimbledon Foundation is donating £1.2 million over a period of three years to help WaterAid make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for communities in four countries Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi and Myanmar supporting WaterAid’s work in health centres, schools and communities.
Sand in Your Eye
Sand In Your Eye make sand sculptures, ice sculptures, pumpkin carvings, sand drawings and land art. The company is based in Hebden Bridge and is composed of a small team of artists. In 2019 they collaborated with Danny Boyle and 14-18 NOW on ‘Pages of the Sea’ where 30 faces were drawn into the sand nationally to commemorate 100 years since Armistice Day. The project was awarded the ‘Best Visual Art Award’ by The South Bank Sky Arts Awards. On International Peace Day 21 September 2013, Sand In Your Eye made The Fallen 9000 where they drew 9000 stencils of fallen people on the beaches of Arromanches to visually demonstrate what happens in the absence of peace, the piece was featured in TIME magazine. Commercially, Sand In Your Eye have also worked with Land Rover to create a 1KM beach drawing and with Aardman Animation to make the world’s largest animation.
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 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.
771 million people in the world – one in ten – do not have clean water close to home.[1]
1.7 billion people in the world – more than one in five – do not have a decent toilet of their own.[2]
Around 290,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's more than 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]
3. WaterAid calculations based on: Prüss-Ustün A, et al. (2019). Burden of Disease from Inadequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Selected Adverse Health Outcomes: An Updated Analysis with a Focus on Low- and Middle-Income Countries. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. vol 222, no 5, pp 765-777. AND The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2020) Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Seattle, WA: University of Washington.
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. wateraid.org
