At the Aquabox Trustees meeting on 10th May, the Aquabox board agreed that in view of the unfolding situation in Ukraine, we will make this our number one priority for the production and supply of shipments of Aquafilters for the coming six months.
Production will focus on maximising output of family filters during this period, and we are working with key Rotary and non-Rotary partners to ensure that the consignments can be securely transported and distributed to those most in need.
Over the past two months, Aquabox has committed and supplied more than £10,000 worth of water filters to the Ukraine. These filters will provide safe drinking water for 15,000 people – or 30 million litres of water over the lifetime of the pumps.
Shipments to date have included:
• 12 Family Filters through the Rotary Club of Billericay Mayflower
• 4 Community Filters through the Ukrainian Society
• 48 Family Filters through Lifeline, the Chernobyl children’s charity
• 20 Community Filters through the Rotary Club of Potsdam in Germany and the Kiev Rotary Club
These shipments represent Aquabox’s initial response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, but as the situation becomes clearer it is evident that access to safe drinking water is of paramount importance. We are currently working with another Rotary disaster response charity, Water Survival Box, to supply a further 300 Family Filters plus 20 Community Filters. These will form part of a joint consignment of more than 600 filters, for distribution by the WASH group within Ukraine.
The cost to Aquabox of this initiative will be £16,000 plus shipping, but it will provide safe drinking water for a further 15,000 people.
How are we paying for all this? We financed our initial shipments to Ukraine from the Aquabox reserves, but for this larger joint response, and to cover the costs of ongoing shipments, we ask for your continued help in order that we can continue to save lives through the provision of safe water.
Such help could include organising street collections, fund raising events, accessing Rotary Foundation grants or simply sending a donation to Aquabox.
Thank you once again for your help and support.