Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Grant & Stone has enabled a water pump to be installed in Manicaland in Zimbabwe,, which will provide much-needed clean and fresh drinking water for hundreds of people in the province.
Grant & Stone installed AquAid watercoolers into its 44 locations. With each purchase of an AquAid watercooler, the company automatically donated to The Africa Trust, which works to bring sustainable solutions to poverty in Africa, allowing for an Elephant Pump to be installed in Manicaland. The pump is a modified version of a Chinese rope pulley system designed to lift water and is constructed and maintained using materials that are locally available in rural sub-Saharan African communities. It is capable of producing up to 10,000 litres of clean water every day.
Fern Shaw from AquAid said: “The positive knock-on effects of building these pumps will benefit the recipients for decades. Implementing these sustainable solutions is only possible thanks to the invaluable custom of businesses like Grant & Stone. We are delighted they chose to partner with us on this very worthwhile initiative and very appreciative of their sterling efforts in creating awareness around what their custom produces.”
Mat Miller, managing director of Grant & Stone’s building division, added: “By simply installing AquAid watercoolers into all our branches the company has been able to make such a difference to hundreds of people’s lives, and it’s fantastic to see the Grant & Stone water pump up and running.”
To date, AquAid has built over 8,000 Elephant Pumps across parts of Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and has donated in excess of £19 million to charity.
