Employees at Corby’s RS give up time to build washing machines for families in need

Employees at Corby’s RS have been volunteering their time to build hand-crank washing machines for families in need in Uganda.

The global provider of product and service solutions for industrial customers took part in a week-long build of 30 washing machines, designed by charity The Washing Machine Project.

The Washing Machine Project aims to provide displaced and low-income communities with an accessible, off-grid washing solution, empowering women with the time to take charge of their lives.

The machines made at RS will go to houses across Kampala to help reduce time spent on the back-breaking task of hand washing clothes.

Currently, women and children in areas like Kampala walk 3.7 miles each day to collect water and clean their family’s clothing.

The Divya 1.55 washing machine reduces time spent on this by 70 per cent, giving women an opportunity to enter paid work and children a chance to access education.

More than 100 RS colleagues have taken part in the building of these machines across four days at the site in Lammas Road.

They worked in pairs on individual workstations to build each part of the machine, resulting in 30 fully functioning machines by the end of the week.

Engineer and founder of The Washing Machine Project, Navjot Sawhney, said: “It is fantastic that the team at RS is once again supporting us on a build project for some of the poorest communities in the world.

“RS is also helping us to develop data collection from the washing machines. This will allow us to accurately measure the impact they have on the people and communities who use them.”

“It will also help us to understand not only how they are used, but how we can continue to improve the design based on the environments they are in.”

The washing machines will be shipped to Uganda in January 2024 and distributed in February.

To find out more information about The Washing Machine Project visit their website.