Olympic Champion Rower Urges Boat Race Spectators to Dig Deep for Wateraid

People going down to watch The Boat Race this weekend should dig deep for the Race’s official ‘tin rattling’ charity, WaterAid, says Olympic Rower Andrew Triggs-Hodge.

“The Boat Race is a great event, and the atmosphere in the parks is always fantastic,” he said. “As rower I am all too aware of the importance of water and I find it totally unacceptable that almost one billion people across the world don’t have access to safe water. This is why I support WaterAid and encourage everyone who goes down to enjoy the Race to spare a little change. This money will go towards helping some of the world’s poorest communities to clean water and sanitation – the very basics for a life out of poverty.”

WaterAid will have a stand and volunteers in Bishop’s Park, Putney and Furnival Gardens in Hammersmith. People will be invited to donate whilst they watch the Race on the big screens. Race organizers are expecting around 7,000 people to watch the Race from the parks.

WaterAid is an international charity focused exclusively on improving poor people’s access to safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation. They work in 27 countries across Africa, Asia, Central America and the Pacific Region.

For more information about please visit: www.wateraid.org

For more information please contact: meltompkins@wateraid.org or call +44(0)20 7793 4995

Or maria@profsports.com 01276 858 930, 07921 603 987

Notes to Editor:

Andrew Triggs-Hodge competed in The Boat Race in 2005 for Oxford University, whilst studying for an Msc in Water Science, Policy and Management.

He won gold in the Beijing Olympics coxless four, and is a double World Champion Winner in the coxless four.

WaterAid transforms lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in some of the world’s poorest communities. We work in 27 countries across Africa, Asia, Central America and the Pacific region. Over the past 30 years, WaterAid has reached 15.9 million people with safe water and, since 2004, 11 million people with sanitation. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org, follow @wateraid on Twitter or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid

• 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.