"10p for every order will be donated to my London Marathon Virgin Money Giving fundraising page for FRANK Water charity until race day on Sunday 3rd October 2021."
On 3rd October 2021, I will be running the London Marathon to raise over £1000 for Bristol based charity FRANK Water Projects https://www.frankwater.com/.
Sangita: how safe water transformed one girl’s life (courtesy of FRANK Water Projects)
Since 2005, FRANK Water has funded safe drinking water and sanitation for or nearly 400,000 people in 549 communities in India and Nepal as well as working on countless initiatives here in the UK.
Why FRANK Water?
It's hard to believe that there are 663 million people in the world without safe water and 2.5 billion with no access to adequate sanitation.
India has the most people in the world (77 million) without improved access to safe water (WaterAid, 2016) and 140,000 children die every year from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
Yet, it costs just £12 to provide safe, clean drinking water, toilets & good hygiene for one person, FOR LIFE.
FRANK Water is close to my heart not only because I visited India many years ago and saw extreme wealth and extreme poverty side by side, but because I spent the most enjoyable day in 2019 taking part in FRANK Water's inaugural charity stand up paddleboard (SUP) race in Bristol Harbour. I was honoured to be paddling with FRANK Water's founder Katie Alcott MBE, Paddle Against Plastic founder Cal Major (SUP World Record Holder) and a brave colleague from work in our team.
Despite the fact that we were obviously not allowed to win with Katie Alcott & Cal Major on our team, the event had a marked effect on me. I distinctly remember Cal Major going out of her way to pick up bits of discarded plastic on her paddleboard that were floating around in Bristol Harbour that everyone else, including me had either not seen or had chosen to ignore. I made a mental note to try and clear up more single use plastic, as Cal selflessly took the single use plastic back to shore to be recycled.
It was also the summer when Hugh and Anita's War on Plastic was captivating the country on TV. Anita Rani has been a dedicated patron of FRANK Water Charity for some years as well as championing the War on Plastic campaign.
It seems fitting to support my fundraising efforts for FRANK Water for the London Marathon through Strictly Sustainable , so 10p for every order will be donated to my London Marathon Virgin Money Giving fundraising page for FRANK Water charity until race day on Sunday 3rd October 2021.