It is all in the numbers
In trying to work out a theme for this newsletter there was one that was staring me in the face as it is hard to ignore the sheer numbers involved at Aquabox. Let’s let the numbers talk for themselves.
In the last 9 months we have sent out:
3172 family filters…69 community filters, 600 Aqua-aid boxes and 2250 re-usable San pads.
Helping over 64,000 people.
Producing 200 million litres of clean drinking water.
150 volunteers…9 countries…
Funding from Government £0
OK, a bit long winded, but you have got to admit, a very impressive way of saying we rely entirely on donations. But I make no apologies for being so blunt, today’s funding climate is tough for all charities.
The large multinational charities we see advertising on TV, and in the press, quite often admit to spending 25 to 30% of donations on marketing, never mind the administration cost of many full-time employees. Larger charities also attract government funding, so it is a vicious circle for smaller charities like Aquabox to compete for funding.
Making sure your donations make a difference
On a brighter note the one word and phrase I hear spoken so often at our depot is “WOW…what you are doing is amazing”. Add to that the fact you can see our volunteers making the filters, and take pride in the team that distribute them around the world you are sure your donation is being used to the full. Yes, we do have rent to pay, with 2 part time members of staff, and utility bills but the rest is undertaken by volunteers including all our marketing and fundraising.
This means the majority of your donations can be used to purchase the parts to make the filters, all the items that go in our Aqua-Aid box and cover the logistics cost like transportation to get the aid to where it is needed.
Which brings me to the best part, just see below for some of the extraordinary feats, exploits and events put on to support Aquabox in the last few months:
Virtual Duck Race (don’t ask how that works, but it does stop plastic ducks going AWOL), World Water Day, Plant sale, Well Dressing, Charity Bike race, Coast to Coast bike ride, Concert for Aquabox.
Depot visits 27
Speaker events 44
Enjoy these pictures of our supporters fundraising
You can go back years and witness this year in year out, unwavering generosity from these wonderful people giving their time, and in the donations from everyone supporting us.
Rotary Fusion event in Brussels
Last month Roger Cassidy, our chair of Trustees, attended the Rotary Fusion event in Brussels.
This summit aims to bring together Rotarians, Rotaractors and Civic Society members from Europe, the Middle East and Africa to promote cooperation and address global challenges.
There were over 1500 people in attendance with the Aquabox presentation being well received.
Shipments
Let’s see where we have sent aid to in the last 3 months.
Mozambique, Rwanda and Uganda.
Funded by a Rotary trust in the US which supports projects in Mozambique, Rwanda and Uganda our first test shipment to the three countries has arrived.
The charity on the ground in Rwanda we have partnered with is ASSIST. They are working with displaced families who are fleeing from the conflicts in Rwanda. These first photos show the family and community filters being unpacked and tested on site.
ASSIST Coordinator, Sister Rose Namulisa B.S said “On the behalf of the beneficiaries of these wonderful and precious filters I say thank you. May the Lord bless all the donors forever more. These water filters will help two families and the community.” Sister Rose added, “Good will and heart to all at Aquabox, if you can increase the number in the future you are welcome because many communities we serve, communities churches, schools, associations… need it and will help us to eradicate many diseases and be in good health when drinking clean water.”
It is often difficult to get feedback and photos from recipients of our filters as they have many difficulties to deal with, but you can see the joy on Sister Rose’s face on behalf of the families and the community who will benefit from the generosity of our new Rotary connection and the arrival of the Aquabox filters. When sending via a new partner we always test that the logistics work and that our aid can get to those in need. Following the success of this first shipment we are now working with our partners to send another larger consignment to help these three countries.
Myanmar
Here are pictures from the shipment we sent back in June showing the newly built school with Disaster Aid Thailand (DAT) donated funds in Sagaing, Myanmar.
Also, DAT donated used laptops for students of the newly built school and Aquabox Family water filters to five families living in a nearby forest village next to the banks of the river Irawaddy. Captain Dol, Rotary Club Of Plutaluang said, “The families have had no alternative but to drink water from the river for many years until now. But thanks to the family and community water filters from Aquabox, the families can drink safe and clean water from now onwards. The children from these families will be attending the new school after the official hand over in October.”
It took a lot of hard work and negotiation by our logistics team and partners on the ground to get aid into Myanmar following the devastating earthquake back in February. But now we have a secure route, the next shipment has been prepared consisting of 540 family filters and 20 community filters which are waiting to be shipped soon.
Ukraine
We have sent many shipments to Ukraine since the start of the war, and this year is no exception with our 3rd shipment this year leaving us in September. That shipment was arranged with our new partner Aid-Ukraine. A second new partner is covoys4ukraine, they take out vehicles to be left in Ukraine and fill them with aid before leaving the UK. This is a good direct route. As you can see from the photo delivery of the filters is undertaken by the volunteers driving the vehicles out, and can hand over the aid in person.
Nepal
Our latest shipment to our established partner in Nepal is being shared with a new partner, The Dolma Foundation, to supply aid to the regions of Rasuwa and the Langtang National Park in Nepal.
Rasuwa and Langtang suffer frequent floods and landslides as a result of monsoon rains, and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) such as the recent Rasuwaghadi disaster and of course are prone to regular earthquakes.
Both Aquabox and the Dolma Foundation receive support from the Worshipful Company of Plumbers and at a ceremony at Painters Hall, the new offices of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers in London on 9th October 2025, Charles Brooks, WCOP Master, Tim Gocher, Chairman Dolma Fund Management and Roger Cassidy, Chair of Trustees at Aquabox signed the agreement that will see even more lives saved across Nepal.
For many years Aquabox has worked closely with the Nepalese Armed Police, Gurkhas, Gurkha Welfare Trust and the local Rotary club in Kathmandu where we have strategic stock in country ready for immediate despatch. The agreement with the Dolma Foundation means we can now cover the region to the north of Kathmandu just as rapidly.
Gaza
The ceasefire is only a few days old, but Palestinians are beginning to return to Gaza
Most of Gaza’s two million people have been displaced and will be housed in camps for many months, if not years, whilst rebuilding is undertaken. Infrastructure has been destroyed meaning basics like clean drinking water is scarce.
At Aquabox we have been monitoring the situation closely along with our partners who deliver aid in the area. We are now actively seeking how we can help with supplying our life saving water filters to the area in the short term and over a longer timespan as required.
Right Revd. Libby Lane, Bishop of Derby, helps make a water filter.
It’s not every day our volunteers get to show off their skills to a Bishop, but in August the Right Revd. Libby Lane, Bishop of Derby, visited Aquabox to hear all about our life saving work. During the production room tour, Bishop Libby could not help but get hands on with the process, helping our volunteer Tony Brennan making a family filter. The whole team was very impressed and thought we had another production champion in the making.
Not content with just making a filter, Bishop Libby went on to help pack an Aqua-Aid box with volunteer Colin Petty and learn all about our San Pads project with Aquabox trustee Cheryle Berry.
Support from all faith groups has always been an important part of Aquabox, we regularly give talks to church groups and welcome any enquiry to bring our story to others.
Thank you to our corporate sponsors
Earlier on in this newsletter we paid tribute to all the individuals helping to raise funds for Aquabox, equally important are our business partners.
AVK are one of our long-standing partners and each year staff at the various companies within the AVK group arrange fundraising events like the 40th anniversary at Aqua Gas, one AVK’s divisions.
AVK
Dominic, one of our Trustees, attended the AVK family day celebrating 40 years of manufacturing at Aqua Gas in Corby, now part of the AVK group. It rained until about 2pm but around 200 people and kids turned up. There was lots of interest in our demonstration stand including from the local mayor. Aqua Gas raised around £500 for Aquabox from the raffle.
Another division of AVK, Atlantic Plastics, collected £334 from a sponsored walk for Aquabox. This was following a talk by Carol and Malcolm two of our ambassadors. Malcolm said, “Carol and I really enjoyed doing the presentation to your colleagues and would happily attend again if ever wanted and add my congratulations to all team members on the walk.”
Everything Art
Each year Kasia offers a Care December art course free of charge, and everyone can join, but as with previous years, they ask customers to donate to the Charity Fundraiser.
Kasia, said, “I am delighted to say we have chosen to support Aquabox again this year. The response from our customers last December was amazing, raising over £6,000, we hope to exceed that in 2025.”
If you are feeling creative check out the courses on Everything Art and especially the Care December offering.
Thank you Kasia, Amy and the team for your tremendous support.
We are blessed with fantastic support from our corporate partners including Cosy Direct and Dryden Aqua who are both in the 2nd year of support, TDP Ltd, Technolog, Qixing Consulting, Faversham House & Devtank
Here is Cosy CEO Peter Else and Chris Radcliffe from Cosy Direct with our family water filter.
New partnerships this year include Devtank and Block Digital, both based in Derby. Bloc Digital are one of the UK’s top digital creation companies and made the brilliant Animation for Aquabox showing how our water filter works in tremendous detail.
Devtank designs and manufacturers high-quality test equipment and smart monitoring solutions for businesses worldwide, including water monitors.
Aquabox has been supported by The Worshipful Company of Plumbers since 2019. The Company is part of the so called ‘Wet Ten’ Worshipful Companies, who are an informal group of both users and suppliers of water who share a common concern for the health of the water environment. They each have a charitable arm and they see their support of Aquabox as an opportunity to promote their philosophy of ‘safe water for all’ through charitable donation.
Industry charity BPEC is supporting international water aid efforts via a donation to Aquabox, a volunteer-led charity that provides filtration units and other humanitarian aid to crisis zones around the world.
Obituaries
Aquabox remembers volunteer and friends.
Tina Rawson
Our thoughts are with David Rawson, one of our longest standing volunteers whose wife Tina died in August. Tina was the first female filter assembler and continued to come to the depot each week until her illness sadly made it difficult. Tina also used to accompany David on his annual trips to Gambia.
Sandra Jackson
Sandra was a member of the Ravenshead and Blidworth Inner Wheel. Sandra and her husband Bob (a member of the Ravenshead and Blidworth Rotary Club) were two of the first people to volunteer at Aquabox when we moved to the central packing model around 15 to 20 years ago and continued to lead the Friday team until 2020.
As well as running the Friday team with her husband Bob, they were both keen fundraisers for Aquabox in North Nottinghamshire, arranging events and giving talks to rotary and other groups.
Every year Sandra used to run a garden party for the Friday team at their home. This was a highlight of the year and Sandra’s cakes were legendary.