Around the world, our network of dedicated staff and local partners make our work happen.
In the UK, that includes our President, Vice President, Board of Trustees and Chief Executive.
Together, every decision they make ensures our work is efficient, effective and sustainable, and takes us closer to our goal: making clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene a normal part of everyday life for everyone, everywhere.
Making change happen on a global scale
WaterAid UK is part of a global federation, alongside six other members: America, Australia, Canada, India, Japan and Sweden. Together, we work with partners around the world, including the Sukaar Foundation in Pakistan, who support girls with good hygiene practices.
Meet our President
WaterAid was founded in 1981. We welcomed The former Prince of Wales as President in 1991, and since then he has seen the impact of our work first-hand in Uganda and Tanzania. He is passionate about finding sustainable solutions to the water crisis, particularly in light of the current threats to our climate, which are already negatively impacting freshwater supplies in the countries where we work.
Meet our Vice President
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey has been Vice President of WaterAid since 1997. She was Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1986 until 1997. Today her roles include:
- Founder and President of Africa Matters Limited,
- Past Chair of the Board of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- President of Royal Geographical Society 2018-2021
Meet our Chair
Andy Green CBE become Chair of WaterAid UK in October 2020, succeeding Tim Clark.
A long-term supporter of WaterAid, Andy is passionate about making clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene available to everyone, everywhere.
- He is a Trustee for WWF UK, Vice Chair of the Disasters Emergency Committee, and a National Infrastructure Commissioner. Andy also chairs the Lowell Group, is Senior Independent Director at Airtel Africa, and is a Non-Executive Director at Link Administration Holdings.
- Before joining WaterAid, Andy was President of UK Space, CEO of BT Global Services, CEO of Logica and Chair of Digital Catapult.
- Andy received a CBE in the Queen’s 2020 New Years Honours list for services to the information technology sector and to the British Space Industry.
As Chair of WaterAid UK, Andy also leads WaterAid UK’s People Committee, overseeing our approaches to remuneration and people management and is a trustee of WaterAid international.
Our history
We started in 1981, when several UK water companies came together at the Thirsty World Conference. Determined to find a solution to a global crisis that had left billions without water, toilets or hygiene, the idea for WaterAid was born.
Meet our Chief Executive
Tim Wainwright became Chief Executive of WaterAid UK in May 2017, succeeding Barbara Frost.
Tim believes water, sanitation and hygiene underpin all progress in development and is committed to WaterAid’s global strategy to transform lives by ensuring everyone, everywhere is reached with services that last. In today’s challenging world, this requires renewed energy and collaboration with partners from civil society, governments and the private sector.
Before joining WaterAid, Tim spent six years as Chief Executive of ADD (Action on Disability and Development) International, an NGO working to promote independence, equality and opportunity for disabled people in poverty in Africa and Asia. Tim also served as the Chair of Bond, the consortium of UK international development agencies, for three years.
He spent two years as Director of the English Regions for the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK, and before that held a range of senior roles with Oxfam and VSO in the UK, Beijing and Bangkok.
Tim began his career at British Airways, spending eight years in operational research and marketing roles, after completing a degree in maths at Cambridge and a masters at Lancaster.
Tim lives in Oxford with his wife and two daughters, where he has been a school governor and, when time permits, removes the larger weeds that grow between the vegetables in his allotment.
Our trustees
What makes our trustees so special? They give up their time and energy for free, to help us make a bigger impact and change millions more lives.
Download our governance manual for trustees (PDF)
Download our Articles of Association (PDF)
Meet our existing trustees
FAQs
Our Trustees are recruited through an open application process. Our aim is to always make sure the Board:
- is diverse and gender-balanced
- reflects the professional skills and experience we need to operate effectively and sustainably
- reflects our origins in the UK water industry
We actively encourage people with international development experience and those of African or Asian origin to apply.
Trustees are elected for a four-year term that may be renewed for another four years. Occasionally this is extended further, to make sure specific skills are represented on the Board.
Our Chief Executive is appointed by our Trustees. Along with our Directors, the Chief Executive is responsible for managing our five departments: International Programmes, Policy and Campaigns, Communications and Fundraising, Finance and Information Services, and People and Organisational Development. Our Internal Audit function also reports directly into our Chief Executive.
At WaterAid we are determined to see a world where everyone has access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030 and we are committed to maximising our impact to help ensure that this is achieved.
We are very aware of our responsibilities to those who benefit from our work as well as our supporters, donors, staff and the public. In setting pay we take seriously our responsibility to ensure value for money in everything we do, always being effective stewards of our resources. This includes using our money wisely to ensure we pay competitive and fair salaries that enable us to recruit and retain staff with the right values, skills and experience to achieve our mission. We aim to remunerate and to review remuneration in a transparent way.
All of our staff have an annual performance review. We believe that basing an element of pay on performance demonstrates our commitment to value for money, accountability to our stakeholders, and reinforces the importance of high standards of performance for all staff.
Pay scales for all staff are set with reference to market conditions, comparing ourselves with similar not-for-profit organisations. Market pay is determined using recognised salary surveys specialising in the Charity and International Development sector. We seek to pay between the median and upper quartile of these comparators.
Pay ranges for the Chief Executive and Directors are set with reference to market data for each individual role, benchmarked using at least three relevant remuneration surveys.
Each year we consider an increase to be awarded on 1 April. Increases are determined taking into account the benchmark data, individual performance and affordability.
The People Committee of the Board provide assurance that WaterAid’s global remuneration policies and principles are being applied. The Committee reviews all proposed increases for Directors and recommends the remuneration of the Chief Executive for approval by the Board of Trustees.
Our Board of Trustees are not remunerated.