RS employees in Corby ‘Walk for Water’ to raise money for The Washing Machine Project

Employees from RS Components in Corby are undertaking a sponsored walking challenge to raise money for The Washing Machine Project (TWMP).

Employees from the RS distribution centre in Lammas Road, Corby, are walking 3.7 miles (6 km) per day for seven days during July and August.

The same average distance that 14 million women and three million children in sub-Saharan Africa walk every day to collect water.

TWMP is tackling this issue by using the power of sustainable engineering to provide displaced and low-income communities with accessible and affordable off-grid washing machines.

In groups of nine, the employees will leave RS at 10am and head to Corby town centre. Once there, they will spend time fundraising and increasing awareness of TWMP, before setting off on the return journey at 12.30pm.

Kristine Opacic, shift manager at RS, who has been helping to organise the event said: “We are extremely excited to be taking part in a fundraising activity like this for The Washing Machine Project.

“Working in a distribution centre can make it difficult for staff to get involved in regular fundraising activities. However, RS has allowed us to use volunteer hours instead of full days which means our teams can get fully involved in supporting this wonderful cause.

“We hope to raise a lot of money and spread the word about the fantastic work The Washing Machine Project does for people all over the world.”

While in Corby town centre, the RS teams are demonstrating the latest version of the innovative hand-crank washing machine, the Divya 1.55. The machine, designed by the team at TWMP, helps to reduce time spent on the back-breaking task of hand-washing clothes, which women and girls do every day in some of the most challenging environments.

The Divya 1.55, which has been built using more than 70 per cent of parts from RS, needs no electricity, uses 50 per cent less water than handwashing and helps communities to spend around 75 per cent less time washing clothes. This means there is a greater opportunity for girls to access education and for women to earn a livelihood.

To date, employees at RS have raised more than £540,000 for TWMP and have more plans lined up to help increase that amount.

Navjot Sawhney, engineer and founder of The Washing Machine Project said: “About 70 per cent of the world’s population does not have access to a washing machine. Washing clothes by hand is hard on the body and well-being of women in these communities and this is the problem TWMP is trying to solve.

“The people at RS have done so much for TWMP already, and activities like the Walk for Water challenge will help us to build more machines that positively impact the lives of thousands of people in the poorest communities.”

The remaining dates for the Walk for Water challenge are July 27, and August 1,3, and 8. The teams will be on Corporation Street in Corby town centre from around 11.30am until 12.30pm on each of those dates, to give further information to anyone interested in finding out more about TWMP.

Donate at The Washing Machine Project Foundation’s Just Giving page.