Hydro’s Fiery Fundraising For Wateraid

Weekend strollers along the banks of Ely’s picturesque River Ouse needed to do a double-take at the mythical sight of two giant dragons racing along the water, close to Hydro International’s UK Wastewater headquarters.

It wasn’t an illusion, but Hydro’s inaugural Dragon Boat contest for WaterAid aiming to become the Cambridgeshire city’s latest legend. Generously supported by suppliers, local businesses and Ely Rowing Club, the event helped bring Hydro’s corporate fundraising total to a monster £40,000 in just four years.

With 10 rowers and a drummer to keep the pace in each boat, eight teams of racers sweated it out along a 200m stretch of the river in a series of close-fought battles. There was even a contest staged and filmed by a TV crew from children’s channel CBBC. In a fiery finish, water services company Ecolutia took the Trophy after a neck and neck tournament.

“This was the first event that the Wastewater division has organised for WaterAid and it was a great success,” said Chris Day, General Manager of Hydro Wastewater which is based in Prickwillow Road. “There will definitely be dragons on the River Ouse again next year. Now the contest is established we are hoping to raise even more money for the charity in future.”

All money raised by Hydro International goes towards supporting specific WaterAid projects in rural areas of Southern Mali, one of the world’s poorest countries. During 2010/11 WaterAid aims to provide over 17,000 people with safe water and 24,000 people with access to sanitation in the region. In Mali, access to water is a daily struggle, particularly during the dry season when people in rural areas can often spend a whole day walking to collect water.

With thanks to all the teams who supported the Dragon Boat event: Ecolutia Toruk, Mott Macdonald, B&W, WA Cooke, Ely Rowing Club, Hydro Wastewater and Hydro Stormwater.

Hydro Makes A Splash For Wateraid

HYDRO International’s annual ‘thrills and spills’ It’s a Knockout tournament has splashed and crashed its way to a £4,000 boost for WaterAid.

This year’s contest saw 13 teams of employees, suppliers and business partners fight a rough-and-tumble battle of the inflatables to help bring Hydro’s grand total of fundraising for WaterAid to £40,000 since its corporate sponsorship began four years ago.

Bathed in glorious sunshine, winners Deloitte lifted the coveted Tap Trophy in the event held in the picturesque surroundings of Hydro’s Clevedon Hall headquarters in Somerset. Meanwhile proud losers Pipex Ltd celebrated the honour of keeping the even more highly prized Loser’s Bucket.

With main sponsorship from Frankische, the It’s a Knockout event was a resounding success and has become a firm fixture in the Hydro calendar, said Alex Stephenson, Stormwater Director. “A big thank-you must go to all the teams who took part and to the Hydro staff for organising the event. For one day a year everyone lays aside their inhibitions and has great fun for a very worthy cause.”

All money raised by Hydro International goes towards supporting specific WaterAid projects in rural areas of Southern Mali, one of the world’s poorest countries. During 2010/11 WaterAid aims to provide over 17,000 people with safe water and 24,000 people with access to sanitation in the region. In Mali, access to water is a daily struggle, particularly during the dry season when people in rural areas can often spend a whole day walking to collect water.

With thanks to all the teams who supported the It’s a Knockout event. ARC Energy Resources, Bond Pearce LLP, CPM Group, Deloitte, Hanson Quarry Products Ltd, Hydro Stormwater, Hydro Wastewater, Oval Insurance Brokers, Pipex Ltd, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Reach, Total Ltd, UK Specialist Hospitals.

Hydro International Climbs Mount Hood For WaterAid

On July 10th and 11th, Hydro International staff (Chris WIlliams, Steve Tansley, and Nick Arling) summited Mount Hood to benefit WaterAid. WaterAid is the leading charity for clean, safe water and sanitation in Africa and Asia. The generous contributions we received to support the event will go directly towards water projects which will benefit those who need it most.

Click here to see photos of the climb.

To learn more about WaterAid's mission visit www.wateraidamerica.org.

It's not too late to donate, we will be accepting donations for this event through August 15th. Please help us bring clean water to those who desperately need it through your tax deductible charitable contribution. Click here for more information on how you can help.

ANNUAL FUNDRAISER IS A ‘SMASHING’ SUCCESS FOR WATERAID

2009 Winners, ARC Energy Resources

HYDRO International is celebrating a ‘smashing’ success after its third annual thrills-and-spills team challenge, ‘It’s a Knockout’, played host to a record number of teams and raised over £5,000 for WaterAid.

Despite torrential rain in the morning 17 teams of employees, suppliers and business partners battled for a place in the grand final. The sun finally came out, just in time to see ARC Energy Resources crowned this year’s winner, taking home the coveted Tap Trophy from Total Ltd.

In last place, taking home the even more coveted loser’s wooden bucket from CPM Ltd, was Hanson Quarry Products Ltd. The event, held in Clevedon, was sponsored by Micro Drainage and Frankische.

“This years’ ‘It’s a Knockout’ has been a great success and we have raised a significant amount of money for a very important cause. I want to say a big thank you to everyone involved on what was not only a fun, but extremely worthwhile day,” said Chris Williams, Chief Operating Officer for Hydro International.

Hydro’s contribution to WaterAid will help 19,000 people across rural areas of Mali gain access to the life-saving provisions of water, sanitation and hygiene education through a specific programme of work.

In Mali, access to water is a daily struggle; people in rural villages can walk as much as seven hours a day to find water in the dry season and this increasing water scarcity is further compounded by severe poverty.

More than eight million Malians do not have access to adequate sanitation, which has lasting impacts on their health. Water and sanitation related diseases are the first and third most common cause of death respectively, contributing to the fact that more than three and a half million people in Mali will not survive past the age of 40.

Plans for next years’ ‘It’s a Knockout’ are already well underway with the fun and wacky fundraising day to be held on Saturday 5 June 2010.

More about WaterAid can be found at www.wateraid.org
Charity registration numbers 288701 (England and Wales) and SC039479 (Scotland)

Hydro’s Second ‘Knockout’ Challenge for WaterAid!

HYDRO INTERNATIONAL, now in its second year of fund raising for WaterAid, held the second It’s a Knockout event on 6th September, raising just over £3000!

Employees, suppliers and business partners of the industry-leading provider of stormwater and wastewater solutions battled it out again for the coveted Tap trophy.

This year the winners were Total Ltd with the Loser’s Wooden Bucket trophy being given a new home with CPM Ltd.

2008 Winners, Total Ltd	2009 Losers’ Bucket, CPM Ltd

More photos from this years event can be found here

Catrin Lewis of Hydro’s fund raising committee says: “During our first year we participated in many events, including music nights, It’s a Knockout and a daring cycle ride from Lands End to John O’Groats. This year we will continue with our efforts and the It’s a Knockout event is the first of many.”

Hydro’s contribution to WaterAid is helping to provide safe drinking water and sanitation, integrated with health and hygiene education for people living in the urban slums of Bharatpur in the Chjtawan district of Nepal.

This project will enable 900 people to gain access to a supply of safe water and 3,900 people to gain access to adquate sanitation during 2007/08.“

Ride up Britain 2008

HYDRO INTERNATIONAL RIDES UP BRITAIN FOR WATERAID

A GRUELLING non-stop bike ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats has raised nearly £15,000 for the charity WaterAid, thanks to courageous cyclists at Hydro International.

Ride up Britain, which took place on 15th May, saw four teams of six from Hydro International, including Chief Operating Officer Chris Williams and Stormwater Director Alex Stephenson, battle their way through the 940 mile, non-stop, night and day, challenge.

The fastest team, Vortex, completed the ride in only 65 hours, with all teams completing the route in less than four days. Amazingly there were no major problems or injuries and not a single puncture in sight!

“Hydro has committed itself to raise £30,000 for WaterAid over a three year partnership, and Ride up Britain has brought us even closer to achieving this goal.” says event organiser Marcus Mumford.

“We were very fortunate that one of our major shareholders, Mr Guy Thomas, pledged to double our sponsorship total bringing us to nearly £15,000 which is a great result for all involved.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to Mr Thomas and everyone who sponsored us and sent us good wishes during the event, its all greatly appreciated.”

It’s still not too late to sponsor the cyclists; you can do this by visiting www.rideupbritain.co.uk and clicking on the sponsorship section.

The Ride up Britain event was registered with Everyday Cycling and was supported by PerformanceCycles.co.uk, SIS, Marshall’s Leasing, Xpertees, Hewden Plant Hire and FSEW.

WaterAid is an international organisation which, together with local partners, uses practical solutions to provide safe water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world’s poorest people. WaterAid operates in 17 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific region.

A blog which was updated throughout the ride and includes lot of pictures and comments is available on the website and gives an insight into the challenge http://therideupbritain.blogspot.com/.

To see more information on each of the teams, their members and sponsor them, you can visit their home pages at www.rideupbritain.co.uk