At World Travel Market 2017 international water development charity Just a Drop will launch a campaign to bring clean safe water to Ugandan schoolchildren.
The Clean Water for Uganda campaign aims to provide 30 biosand filters to three Ugandan schools, bringing clean safe water to 1,279 pupils and their teachers. The campaign aims to raise £1980 and will run throughout November 2017. Every donation towards the campaign will be match funded by World Travel Market (WTM), doubling the impact of each donation. Donations can be made via Just a Drop’s website: www.justadrop.org or in person at the charity’s WTM stand N1/S1 on the Main Boulevard, which will feature an interactive, working biosand filter.
In celebration of WTM’s Responsible Tourism Day on Wednesday 8 November, ‘Beyond Tourism’ will see Just a Drop Founder & Chairman Fiona Jeffery OBE join Just a Drop partners David Hosking, Director TTC, The Travel Corporation & Treadright Foundation; Inge Huijbrechts, Vice President Responsible Business, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group; and Sarah Hunter, CSR Director, Euromonitor International, for a discussion about the benefits of creating shared value partnerships, at 1:00pm in WTM’s Responsible Tourism Theatre. Moderated by Anita Mendiratta, Founder and Managing Director of Cachet Consulting, the talk will examine the benefits of business and charity partnerships based on clear business needs, which generate greater innovation and growth for businesses and greater benefits for society.
Fiona Jeffery OBE, Founder and Chairman of Just a Drop said: ‘Just a Drop was launched at WTM in 1998 and key to the charity’s endurance and growth has been the development of successful strategic shared-value partnerships with travel sector companies. These partnerships have worked two ways; firstly fulfilling our partners’ business needs, whether engaging with employees, satisfying environmental considerations or utilising Just a Drop’s knowledge of the social challenges of developing and working in new markets; and secondly transforming lives across the globe with clean, safe water and sanitation.’
WTM 2017 will see the return of Just a Drop’s ‘This Bottle is a Lifesaver’ fundraising initiative, due to last year’s success. Reusable water bottles will be available for a £3 donation from the Just a Drop stand, located at N1/S1 on the Main Boulevard, with free water refills available from various water stations located around the fair. Water stations this year include Affordable Car Hire, Air Europa and Skål International.
The generous donations Just a Drop received throughout WTM 2016 have supported 437 children at Norah Junior School, Uganda with clean water, latrines, handwashing facilities and hygiene and sanitation education. The children are now healthier and happier, spending more time in school and receiving a better education. They are looking forward to brighter futures.
Just a Drop was founded at WTM in 1998 by Fiona Jeffery OBE, former Chairman of WTM, as a way of encouraging the travel industry to give back to communities around the world. Fiona chose the cause because water is the most basic of human needs, and she felt that if everyone was encouraged to give a little, then collectively a huge difference could be made.
To find out more about Just a Drop or to make a donation, please visit www.justadrop.org