From the free time our 150+ volunteers give each year, a £1 donation for hook-a-duck, corporate partnerships, delivery partners, walking 600 miles for Aquabox to a simple thank you it all keeps us going.
Shipments 2026
In amongst all the amazing fundraising activity from our supporters we have been busy making and sending out filters and aid boxes. The war in Iran, and the worldwide tariff turmoil has had an impact on where we can safely send aid. Just before the war started, we had sent our first shipment to a UN disaster warehouse in Dubai. This is a new delivery partnership with Humanity First & UNHRD to allow for a strategic stock of Aquabox water filters to be sited closer to the middle and far east where natural and man-made disasters happen frequently. This stock, being that much closer, can be despatched and delivered faster saving weeks on getting aid to where it is needed. But just a couple of weeks after the first consignment had arrived, the Iran war started and movements out of Dubia came to a halt. Even now it is very difficult to deploy this stock, but hopefully this will soon be over.
Ukraine
In late February we supplied our 24th shipment to Ukraine. So far, our filters deployed in Ukraine have provided over 3 billion litres of clean water for over 150,000 people.
Drone bombardments in Ukraine not only hit buildings but the utility infrastructure supplying water.
The tariff wars have also had some impact on getting our filters out, particularly in the east. A lot of countries are asking us to re-apply for tariff codes for our filters and aid boxes, which is taking time, but we are working very hard to re-establish these delivery links.
In the meantime, we have been deploying aid to Africa with shipments to Uganda and Malawi.
Malawi
Following floods in Malawi, East Africa over 140,000 have been affected and are currently sheltering in 31 camps. Shortly after hearing of this Aquabox sent 100 AquaAid boxes, each consisting of over 40 items of essential supplies for a family group as well as 900 family water filters. This will help 10,000 people in the worst areas. Persistent heavy rains triggered widespread flooding across several districts, particularly lakeshore areas such as Nkhotakota, which has been the most severely affected.
Glenn Stewart, a Trustee at the Christian African Relief Trust (CART) sent us photos showing the devastation these floods are causing. Glenn said, “We are so grateful for this rapid response, and our heartfelt thanks go to all the volunteers and supporters at Aquabox”.
We will keep monitoring the situation to see if we can send further help.
Uganda
In February we sent 100 AquaAid boxes, 948 family water filters and 20 community filters, which was support for over 20,000 people in Uganda.
‘There is no end in sight to the conflict that has so far killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 11 million and triggered the world’s largest hunger crisis. Uganda is the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa with almost 1.7 million people fleeing war and natural disasters from across the continent. At the same time, it has one of the most unique refugee policies in Africa – and perhaps the world.’ This quote is from Médecins Sans Frontières – Doctors without Borders.
Zimbabwe
Our next shipment in June is going to Zimbabwe where we are partnering with CART once again to support projects being run by Community Projects Zimbabwe. This group work with vulnerable communities across the country to provide Water and Sanitation, Healthcare and Education support. Access to safe water for drinking, washing and cooking can be a major issue and the provision of our filters will make a big difference.
Sri Lanka
In early January 2026 Mark Fernandez, and his wife Nicola, decided to visit Sri Lanka and combine a holiday with a seven-day school charity visit, something they had never done before. A friend of Mark’s, who owns a travel company focused on Sri Lanka (Discover Sri Lanka), had in the past spent time and money assisting schools in Sri Lanka. Mark and Nicola knew their help might involve painting some of the school and whatever else was needed. However, it was only when they reached the school, that they appreciated the issues the school had around clean drinking water.
Mark said, “During the 12 months I volunteered for Aquabox, I was always impressed when I saw the pump working. It was only when I saw the filter being used to supply actual fresh water to people who did not take this as a given, that I saw the TRUE value of the pump.”
Thannayaya Primary School, Badalkumbura in Southern Sri Lanka was located in a poor rural farming area. The school catered for 43 pupils aged between 5 and 10, with 5 teachers and a Principle.
Parents replumbing the pump and pipework bringing water from the local river
When on site and they could see the problems first hand, Mark noticed that there was adequate plumbing/taps etc in place but no water. The school had a well, connected to the local river. The site also had 500 litres of water storage spread across two storage tanks. However, the reason for no water was that the school’s water pump had been stolen 3 months prior, indeed this had happened 3 times already. Hence teachers each day had to walk the 200 metres to the river to collect water in buckets to flush the toilets. In summer temperatures can reach 40 degrees Celsius, keeping the children hydrated is essential. The parents of the pupils provided free labour to rewire, replumb, dig the trenches and attach the pump.
Now what happens is that every Monday morning the pump is attached to the pipes, the three storage tanks are filled, the pump is disconnected and then stored in a parent’s house for the following week. Every morning the children then take it in turns, using the Aquabox filter, to fill 5 litre water containers with water that is then available during the day for the children and teachers.
Aquabox volunteers were delighted to read this good news story and especially the thank you picture from the pupils at Thannayaya Primary School, “to see their smiles makes what we do so rewarding” said members of the filter production team
El Niño
If you ever wonder how we find out about disasters, usually we are contacted by our partners on the ground asking for support. However, sometimes we are pro-active in responding to news. Just last night the UN reported a new phase of the natural El Niño weather pattern which could begin in a matter of weeks.
This El Niño is likely to strengthen over the rest of 2026, driving more extreme weather around much of the globe with national weather agencies suggesting it could be one of the strongest ever recorded.
Events like this will cause natural disasters around the world like flooding and landslides. we have to be prepared for this by ramping up our production of water filters. But tis takes more funds to buy all the components, help do this by donating now.
Depot news
After almost five years David Wildgoose, our depot manager, has decided to retire at the end of June. David has overseen many changes at Aquabox in his time with us, from streamlining our admin process, managing an ever-growing volunteer group, invaluable support to Dominic with Aquaboost to improve our production and more recently the transition from Safe Water Trust of all the rights to Aquabox to make both the MK5 family and community filters.
I am sure you will join us in wishing David all the best in his retirement.
A big thank you to our corporate partners.
Aquabox relies entirely on donations and regular funding from our corporate partners is vital to our aid programme. Our current partners are: AVK, The Worshipful Company of Plumbers, Everything Art, BPEC, Cosy Direct, Dryden Aqua, TDP Ltd, Technolog, Devtank & QiXing Consulting. Please visit our business partners page to read more about these fantastic companies.
https://aquabox.org/help-us/business-partnerships/meet-our-corporate-partners/
World Water day in March and more fundraising events
The last 3 months has seen our community liaison group and Rotary Clubs, and individuals, around the UK hold events to raise funds for Aquabox. Here are just a few. On World Water Day, held on 22 March, we teamed up with Rotary District 1220 and Chesterfield Canal Trust for a fun day of events and live demonstrations of our life saving water filters. We even had the young at heart Mayor of Chesterfield, Barry Dyke, have a go at hook a duck.
Closer to home a concert by UkeWirks raised over £2,000 and likewise our annual Plant Sales also raised a similar amount.
As we write this newsletter Annabel Shilson-Thomas, a friend of Aquabox, is 5 weeks into walking the Camino across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela and has kindly agreed to raise funds for Aquabox.
Hot of the press on June 8th Annabel completed the walk and has raised over £4,400. Hopefully Annabel’s feet are holding up to the end of this amazing Pilgrimage.
Leave a donation gift in your will.
Talk to your legal advisor about leaving a legacy to Aquabox.
