It is critical to focus every day on the importance of having access to clean, sustainable water in SA, but March is particularly significant in that it marks Water Month in South Africa – alongside National Water week (20-26 March) and World Water Day on 22 March. The Woolies Water Fund is celebrating the month of March with the achievement of having provided the capacity to store 1 million litres of water at 100 schools across South Africa who previously had no or limited access to clean and sustainable water.

According to UNICEF*, one in five children globally does not have enough water to meet their everyday needs. This is because more than 1.42 billion people, including 450 million children, live in areas of high water vulnerability.

The Woolies Water Fund, which was initiated in 2018, is supported by the Woolies beverage department, the Woolworths Making the Difference Platform and the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet programme..

The fund aims to transform communities and schools by improving access to safe water and sanitation and ensuring the conservation of this precious resource in support of healthier and more sustainable livelihoods.

Through the fund, 600+ hand washing stations and 172 water tanks have been installed across four provinces in 100 schools.  

Lack of sustainable water source in schools often impacts learning for children in rural communities, with disruptions to feeding, learning and sanitation which can have catastrophic short and long-term effects,” says Pieter Twine, MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet General Manager. “Our customers’ card swipes are helping the Woolies Water Fund work toward installing rainwater tanks, infrastructure, filtration systems and handwashing stations at an additional 20 schools for the calendar year 2023, adding water meters to each system going forward to gather data on how much water is being used and saved at each school and implementing more infrastructure and handwashing stations before end-June 2023.  Through the Woolworths Making the difference learning platform, we aim to provide digital downloadable curriculum aligned resources and virtual experiences that further assists learners and schools with valuable educational content as to the importance of water and provides tips and guidelines that can be implemented at home, at school and within communities.

To continue helping support the Woolies Water Fund, select the Fund as a MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet beneficiary. Every time you swipe your card, a percentage of your spend goes to the Fund at no additional cost to you. To add the Fund as a beneficiary, SMS ‘water’ to 31231 at no charge or sign up at www.myschool.co.za.

You can also contribute by buying a Woolies-branded bottle or canned water and on your behalf, Woolworths will contribute a percentage towards the Woolies Water Fund’s goal of installing rainwater tanks, infrastructure, filtration systems and handwashing stations at schools that don’t have sustainable access to clean water.

Sign up for a MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet card online or via the app (Google Play or Apple App Store) to give back and help install essential water infrastructure at schools, amongst other major national interventions – at no charge – with every swipe.

* https://www.unicef.org/turkiye/en/press-releases/one-five-children-globally-does-not-have-enough-water-meet-their-everyday-needs