Love your coffee? UK Coffee Week returns this October, helping Project Waterfall, the charity providing funds for clean water and sanitation in coffee growing communities worldwide.
UK Coffee Week is back from 13th to 19th October, uniting coffee lovers, cafés, and roasters nationwide for a week-long celebration of all things coffee — helping to change lives.
Since its launch in 2011, UK Coffee Week has raised over £900,000 for Project Waterfall, bringing clean water, sanitation, and education to coffee-growing communities across the globe.
“UK Coffee Week is all about celebrating coffee, while making a difference to the communities that support our livelihood,’’ says Campaign Manager Bethan Shaw. “We’re excited to already have some amazing coffee operators signed up, such as Insomnia Coffee Company, Clifton Coffee Roasters, The Turntable Coffee & Vinyl, Magnetic North Coffee, and Holme Coffee House. Friends of the campaign so far include Oatly and Sanremo – with more to be announced soon.”
From independent coffee shops donating money from coffees sold to roasters contributing from coffee bag sales and coffee businesses hosting their own fundraising events, there are countless ways to take part. Whether you’re a roaster, coffee shop, or coffee business, everyone can make a difference.
Today, 703 million people around the world don’t have access to clean water. The majority live in isolated, rural areas – the same areas growing our coffee. UK Coffee Week funding helped bring clean water to the town of Haro Dumal in Ethiopia.
Asrat Areda, a shop owner and mother of three, now has clean water just outside her home. “Having clean water near our house means everything to me,” says Asrat. “When I was my children’s age, we had to collect water from a river. But now, my children won’t have to do that. This makes me really happy, it’s what every parent wants — to see their children living a better life.
“Now we have a public tap right in front of our compound. We no longer waste time walking to the river. We can keep clean, take baths, and use the water without hesitation. It’s been over a month since we started collecting water from the new tap, and it has changed our lives.”
Improved access to water leads to increased productivity and consequently, local economic growth. Plus, the construction of new water supply systems — using materials that take into account the anticipated effects of climate change — will also create new jobs and other economic opportunities, ensuring that the community will continue to have access to safe, clean water well into the future.
Women in the community will no longer have to spend large amounts of time collecting water and can instead pursue economically productive pursuits, helping break them and their families free from poverty.
By funding sustainable and safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in partnership with delivery partners, Project Waterfall has changed over 90,000 lives to date.
