Portsmouth Water Kingfisher Team shortlisted in WaterAid’s Innovators challenge

This global challenge saw teams from across the UK, America and Australia choose either a water, sanitation or hygiene-focused problem to overcome using innovative thinking, and fresh creative skills.

A team, made up from staff at Portsmouth Water from within Customer Services and Water Quality, were tasked with crafting solutions for people in Cambodia. Still recovering from decades of conflict, Cambodia is one of South East Asia’s poorest countries and access to water, sanitation and hygiene is very low. WaterAid has highlighted real situations for the teams to focus on, to help provide access to these basic necessities. They called themselves ‘The Kingfishers.’

The Kingfishers have not only taken on this challenge to provide some of the poorest Cambodian communities with access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene for a brighter future, but have managed to be in the final shortlist in the challenge which involved over 33 other teams from across the globe. Tuesday 11th October will see them go to London to present an overview of their campaign to the WaterAid team.

Water Innovators’ aims are to develop professional and core business skills, competing to solve real problems from the communities where WaterAid operates. In addition, all teams were tasked with raising a minimum of £3,000 each.

To raise the target of £3,000 for WaterAid, the Kingfishers carried out a summer of fundraising, involving sponsored mountain walks, football sweepstakes building up to a community festival at Staunton Country Park. The final Kingfishers event was a Cambodian Lunch put on for all Portsmouth Water employees, giving them an opportunity to taste food from a different culture, and immerse themselves in the world of Cambodia.

When all the counting was complete, it was clear they surpassed their target of £3,000, raising an amazing £6,000 for the campaign!

Emma Camm, the Chair of the Kingfishers said on hearing the news “As a small Water company, and a small team, the Kingfishers are immensely proud of the success of the campaign, showing that by working together as a company and a community, anything is achievable. The fact we have been shortlisted for the final is the icing on the cake. Even if we weren’t shortlisted we knew that by raising £6,000 we have made a real difference to people’s lives.”

To find out more about Water Innovators 2016 visit www.wateraid.org/uk/waterinnovators