Thandie Newton Campaigns for Clean Water

Thandie Newton is supporting a new campaign that aims to provide clean water to people in Africa.

For every litre of Volvic Plain or Volvic Touch of Fruit purchased in the UK, Volvic and World Vision will provide ten litres of clean, safe drinking water through their well creation programme in six countries across Africa, helping to improve the quality of life for entire communities.

Backing this programme is leading British actress and BAFTA award winner, Thandie Newton. In February 2008 Thandie visited Mali, where she personally witnessed the difference a well can make in a community and met with people who are directly benefiting from the Volvic 1L-for-10L programme.

"My trip to Mali was a humbling experience, and one that I will never forget. Having seen first hand the vital difference, clean, safe water makes to the lives of children, women and the wider community; I hope that people in the UK will get behind the '1L-for-10L' campaign and help generate the much needed supply of water, something we take for granted everyday."

As a result of the 1L-for-10L project, wells are being dug in Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and Mali in 2008, generating over 1.7 billion litres of water in the first year alone. Not only do the wells provide access to safe, clean drinking water but they also lead to improved sanitation, a reduction of waterborne diseases, better hygiene and improved crop irrigation.

Individuals will no longer need to walk for miles to collect water and families and communities will be able to devote more time to education and income-generating activities.

In 2009 and 2010 Volvic and World Vision will build further wells in Africa, in Ethiopia and Niger, with the aim of generating more than 6 billion litres of clean drinking water over the duration of the three year programme. The wells have a lifespan of at least 20 years and World Vision provides training for the local communities so that they can manage the wells ensuring that they remain a sustainable resource. Volvic and World Vision estimate the 1L-for-10L programme will have a life-changing impact on hundreds of thousands of people.

Patrick Kalotis, Marketing Director at Volvic, comments: "At Volvic we are passionate about water and feel very strongly about the fact that millions of people around the world do not have access to the daily water they need.

“Volvic 1L-for-10L is an exciting initiative and we want to work together with World Vision to deliver a long-term sustainable development programme that will make a real difference to communities across Africa. We hope that the whole of the UK will get behind Volvic and World Vision and support 1L-for-10L."

Philip Spencer, Marketing Director at World Vision comments: "The Volvic 1L-for-10L programme in association with World Vision will help further generate awareness in the UK of the issues surrounding the lack of clean drinking water in developing countries. This programme will have a dramatic effect on the quality of life for communities across the six identified countries, as access to clean water impacts everything from health and sanitation to education and food production.

“World Vision works alongside these communities to ensure that development really does meet their needs and is also sustainable in the long-term. Both World Vision and Volvic are passionate about using water to improve the quality of people's lives and we look forward to helping achieve this with the 1L-for-10L programme."

http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/Thandie+Newton-20340.html