The Big Challenge is London's first 10km sponsored walk for water
Howard Lake | 19 March 2012 | News
More than 1,000 people are expected to shake up their traditionally relaxed Sunday with a challenging charity walk around London’s iconic River Thames on 15 April 2012.
The Big Challenge, the first 10 kilometre sponsored walk of its kind in London, will raise money for water projects in some of the poorest communities in African coffee-producing countries.
The event, starting from The Scoop next to City Hall, will see participants carry up to 10 litres of water for the final 5 kilometres of the walk, representing the difficult task of fetching water undertaken daily by African women and children.
Jeffrey Young, Chairman of Allegra Foundation which is organising the event, said walkers will experience first-hand what life is like for many people in developing countries.
“Carrying up to 10 litres of water for five kilometres might be a ‘big challenge’ for us, but this type of journey is a daily ritual for one in eight people worldwide who do not have access to clean water,” Mr Young said.
“In rural Africa, women and children spend hours each day walking through rugged terrain to collect water for their families. Not only does this prevent children from attending school and adults from working, but the water brought back is often dirty, polluted and unsafe to drink.
“The Big Challenge will raise awareness and funds for what is essentially a basic human right,” Mr Young said.
Collectively, 1,000 participants will travel 10,000 kilometres, the distance from London to Tanzania where Allegra Foundation’s charitable initiative Project Waterfall is currently delivering clean water projects in partnership with WaterAid.
The Big Challenge is the official pre-launch event of UK Coffee Week™ 2012, which will be held from 23-29 April.
UK Coffee Week is the nation’s largest charitable celebration of coffee that unites the coffee industry while raising money for Project Waterfall. The week includes coffee shop charitable collections and activities; a national media programme; new fundraising initiatives such as Coffee@Work, which invites workplace employees to make a donation towards hot beverages made at work during the week; and public events, including The Big Challenge and the popular London Coffee Festival, being held from 27-29 April 2012.
Register for The Big Challenge today with your colleagues or friends and family at www.ukcoffeeweek.com/bigchallenge
~ENDS~
For more information please contact:
Kelly Hoang, Marketing Communications Manager, Allegra Foundation
kh****@al*****.uk | +44(0) 20 7691 8846
Notes to the editor
UK Coffee Week™
UK Coffee Week 2012, being held from 23-29 April, provides a unique opportunity for branded coffee chains, independent coffee shops and industry suppliers to collaborate and celebrate the success of the sector while giving back to an extremely worthy cause. A nationwide programme of charitable collections, in-store activities and public events will raise funds for Project Waterfall to deliver clean water projects in coffee-producing African countries. For further information, visit www.ukcoffeeweek.com, www.facebook.com/UKCoffeeWeek or follow UK Coffee Week on Twitter @UKCoffeeWeek.
Allegra Foundation and Project Waterfall
Allegra Foundation is a registered charity (No. 1133540) established by the Allegra Group to support sustainable development projects in coffee-growing countries. Project Waterfall is the central focus for fundraising and aims to deliver clean water projects in African coffee-producing countries. 100% of all funds raised from consumer donations directly benefit this cause. The first project is currently providing clean water to communities in the Mbulu District of Tanzania in partnership with WaterAid. For further information, visit
www.allegrafoundation.com.
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London Coffee Festival – 27-29 April, Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane
The London Coffee Festival celebrates the city’s coffee culture, with artisanal coffee and specialist tea for sale, barista demonstrations, gourmet food stalls and live music all taking place across the four festival zones. This year The London Coffee Festival will kick off with the Espresso Martini Launch Party on 27 April at 5pm and play host to The UK Barista Championships 2012 across the three-day period. The festival is the flagship event of UK Coffee Week. 50% of ticket sale proceeds will go to Project Waterfall, the charitable initiative delivering clean water projects in Tanzania in partnership with WaterAid. For further information, visit
www.londoncoffeefestival.com
www.facebook.com/TheLondonCoffeeFestival
or follow The London Coffee Festival on Twitter @LdnCoffeeFest.
Allegra Strategies
London-based management consultancy Allegra Strategies publishes the most comprehensive research conducted on the European and UK branded coffee shop market: Project Café UK and Project Café Europe. With 12 years of research experience in the European branded coffee shop market, Allegra Strategies is recognised as the thought leader and the most trusted source of information in the industry. For further information, visit
www.allegrastrategies.com
WaterAid
WaterAid’s vision is of a world where everyone has access to safe water and sanitation. The international organisation works in 27 countries across Africa, Asia, Central America and the Pacific region to transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in some of the world’s poorest communities. Over the past 30 years, WaterAid has reached 15.9 million people with safe water and, since 2004, 11 million people with sanitation. For further information, visit
www.wateraid.org
www.facebook.com/wateraid
or follow @wateraid on Twitter.
• At least 4,000 children die every day as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation.
• 884 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one in eight of the world’s population.
• 2.6 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation, this is 39% of the world’s population.
• For every £1 invested in water and sanitation, £8 is returned in increased productivity.
• Just £15 can enable one person to access safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.