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Top-sellers in stores 'win' a place on a trip to visit some of One Water's clean water projects in Malawi. One Water Founder Duncan Goose visited 14 high footfall branches of World Duty Free's stores this year across UK airports and at Eurotunnel Folkestone, covering a distance of 2,000 miles on his Honda Africa Twin Motorcycle. Duncan's 'lightbulb moment' to set up One was on a round-the-world trip he made in 1998 on the same bike: an encounter with Hurricane Mitch in Honduras inspired a new career in global development.
The decade-long relationship between One Water and World Duty Free - based on a shared vision of a world in which everyone has access to clean water - has meant that the travel retailer thus far has contributed £2.7 million to projects around the world.
Funds from The One Foundation achieved via World Duty Free sales have been donated to rehabilitate water points and to bring water access back into communities and have particularly impacted work in Malawi's rural communities, where farmers are working to grow sufficient crops to feed themselves and their families.
Donations have also funded the provision of gravity-fed and solar pumping systems, meaning that clean water is now readily available in schools and health clinics. Catastrophic cyclones have impacted areas of Malawi over the last three years, washing away houses and crops, and contaminating water points, so the funds that continue to be raised are vital, to help communities recover and regenerate.
To date, The One Foundation has raised over £30 million through partners such as World Duty Free, Bidfood, Co-Op, and Starbucks.
Entries for the Frontier Awards were received from around the world, showcasing the very best of the industry. A panel of independent, expert judges pored over the entries to choose this year's finalists and eventual winners, which celebrated the best of innovation and excellence in the travel retail sector.
Says Duncan Goose, Founder of One Water: “It was such an honour to be invited to Cannes for the 40th anniversary of the Frontier Awards. To be nominated alongside many famous and iconic global brands was recognition enough, but to actually win the award was unexpected and very humbling.
"It recognises the exceptional work of all those at Avolta and World Duty Free who believe in what we are trying to do to help those that live without access to clean water and my hope is that this award will bring attention not only to the team of people who make this all possible within Avolta, but the wider issue itself. It's an incredible honour to be part of this journey that has already changed 5 million people's lives.
"Water is vital for life, yet 703 million people globally still don't have access to safe drinking water and over 1.7 billion people lack access to a decent toilet. 3.4 million people die every year from waterborne diseases and sadly many are children under the age of 5 years old. Around the world, women and children often bear the responsibility of collecting water for their families and can walk up to 4 hours a day just to find water.
"We want World Duty Free's fantastic staff to see for themselves what their hard work has contributed to. We thank them for their continued support, it means everything to us and the beneficiaries who they are supporting in sub-Saharan Africa. We hope the upcoming trip will inspire them. Their help has been life-changing for millions. We estimate that there are still 65,000 handpumps in Malawi that are in dire need of repair and World Duty Free are integral to facilitating change, one day at a time.”
By total chance One Water asked us to share their story with you. Their email arrived just after I posted up a story about water infusion, a different, but related topic.
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