The Prince of Wales hosted a reception earlier this month to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of WaterAid.
WaterAid is a UK charity dedicated to improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world’s poorest communities.
Decanter, through the Decanter World Wine Awards, is one of Wateraid’s biggest and longest-standing corporate sponsors.
Every year thousands of duplicate sample bottles of wine are left at the end of the Decanter World Wine Awards. These are auctioned in the autumn by Christie’s and the proceeds donated to WaterAid.
Susie Henderson, Wateraid corporate account manager said, ‘Since 2004 over £235,000 has been raised through this fantastic partnership. This has enabled WaterAid to transform the lives of more than 15,000 people in some of the world’s poorest communities as they gain access to safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene education.’
The Prince of Wales (pictured, with Decanter publishing director Sarah Kemp, far left, at a reception at Clarence House to celebrate the anniversary) has been patron of the charity since 1991.
Kemp said, ‘All of us at Decanter are extremely proud of the amount of money we have raised for Wateraid through our “turning wine into water” inititative.
‘While it may not be the reason producers enter the Decanter World Wine Awards, I know that they share with us great pride in what we have achieved.’
According to WaterAid at least 4,000 children die every day as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation; roughly one in eight of the world’s population does not have access to safe water.
Since being formed in 1981 by a group of individuals working in the water industry, WaterAid – which now works in 26 countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and South America – has provided almost 16m people with safe water and, since 2004, more than 11m with sanitation.
The Decanter World Wine Awards auction takes place at Christie’s King Street on 20 October 2011
Written by decanter.com staff
