Shrewsbury lottery players help transform lives in Africa
Shrewsbury players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised a massive £762,900 this year alone for good causes at home and overseas.
WaterAid is one charity to benefit from local players’ support, helping transform lives across the world by improving access to clean water, decent toilets and hygiene education.
The money raised by local players is helping fund WaterAid’s work in some of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Rwanda, where two in five people lack access to clean water, one in three have no decent toilets, and 86 per cent have no access to basic hygiene facilities.
With support from People’s Postcode Lottery, the charity is helping get clean water, sanitation and hygiene services into 82 schools in Rwanda.
Before the funding, students had to collect water from dirty sources and bring it to school for drinking, washing and cooking, affecting their health and performance at school.
As part of this project work, more than 26,000 people have been reached with clean water, 2,800 with decent toilets, and 5,400 with good hygiene.
One student who has benefitted is 19-year old Louise who is now helping to transform the hygiene habits of her community through all she has learnt at the school’s hygiene club.
She said: “In the last year, there has been great improvement in our school water, sanitation and hygiene conditions. We also have a new latrine block which is near our classrooms. Before, we used to walk a long distance to use the latrine. We also have a newly constructed rainwater harvesting tank, it is very big. I’m very sure it will solve our water problem forever."
Over the past six years, People’s Postcode Lottery players across the UK have raised more than £11 million for WaterAid and £500 million for charity overall.
WaterAid chief executive Tim Wainwright said: “We are really grateful to players of People’s Postcode Lottery in Shrewsbury for supporting our work in Rwanda and across sub-Saharan Africa, helping get clean water and decent toilets to communities, sparking a chain reaction that leads to lasting change.
"It’s also inspiring to see how young people are sharing what they have learned around sanitation and hygiene with their wider community, increasing the impact of the work.”
