One million drops of joy

The international travel and tourism industry fund-raiser has announced the spectacular news that the magical £1,000,000 figure has been achieved in its 10th year of operation.

“It is a wonderful anniversary celebration and inspires us to march onto the next million,” said Just a Drop founder and chairman Fiona Jeffery. “This money has funded desperately-needed, water-aid projects throughout the world including Africa, Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Europe.”

In total, Just a Drop has helped more than 900,000 people from 28 countries building protected wells, installing piping, and providing sanitation.

“I would like publicly to thank all the many people who have contributed and supported us so willingly since we started our little ‘drop-in-the-ocean’ idea that has grown into a well-recognized and respected organisation,” Jeffery continued.

Jeffery, chairman of World Travel Market, is proud that Reed Exhibitions recently adopted Just a Drop as its flagship charity and has paid tribute to what she describes as a “true team effort.”

She thanked Just a Drop’s board of trustees, corporate sponsors, and patrons including Baroness Anelay of St. Johns; broadcasters Alastair Stewart, OBE, and Stephen Sackur, presenter of BBC World’s flagship program Hard Talk; and Tracy Edwards, MBE, who won international fame as the skipper of the first all-female crew to sail around the world in the Whitbread Round at the World Yacht Race.

Jeffery gave special thanks to Capt. Jim Masters, whose expertise has been invaluable in overseeing Just a Drop’s field operations and Nikki Davis, company secretary, who has worked tirelessly for the cause since its formation and was responsible for the all important registration with the Charity Commission.

“Little did I expect that having got involved from the outset as a simple fundraising initiative, encouraging the industry to give back, it would grow to become the independent global charity it is today,” said Davis.

Col. John Blashford-Snell, Just a Drop’s president, who helped gain the support of countless volunteer water engineers, doctors, dentists, and nurses who have traveled to often very remote locations worldwide, said: “Just a Drop has created hope for people who would otherwise be doomed to a life without clean water.

“In the past, women and children from these communities would walk for hours every day just to collect clean water. You can only understand what this means to them when you see their faces as a project is completed.

“The alternative is to drink dirty, disease-borne sources of water, often shared by livestock and wildlife, which can kill children before the age of five. That is why an infant or toddler dies every 17 seconds somewhere in the world.

“Installing clean water means so many things – it not only helps improve a community’s health but plays a crucial role in helping reduce poverty and increasing the opportunity for children to go to school.”

“We have come a long way since Just a Drop was started ten years ago, and thousands of lives have been transformed,” added Jeffery. “Sadly, there is still much to be done, and we often have to turn away people who come to us for help because of insufficient funds.”

To learn more about Just a Drop’s work in the field and how to donate over the festive season, visit www.justadrop.org .