Just a Drop is mobilising a Mums Army with the aim of raising £250,000 in the space of a year.
The international water aid charity’s campaign starts on Mother’s Day on March 15, 2015, with the money to be raised by Mother’s Day 2016 on March 6.
It will be the first time that a charity calls upon UK mothers to help mums in the developing world.
A child still dies somewhere in the world every 20 seconds due to dirty water. Just a Drop is currently helping provide clean, safe water in some of the poorest communities in 30 countries around the world.
The Mums Army campaign was unveiled this morning by Just a Drop founder and chairman Fiona Jeffery OBE, and patron and TV presenter Alexander Armstrong.
Armstrong said: “I am delighted to be spearheading the launch of the Just a Drop Mums Army. Through it we aim to unite the mums of the world and focus our attention on the role clean water plays in all our lives.
“We want to give all mums, wherever they are, the same access to clean safe water that we take for granted.
“With our engineering expertise this is easily achievable and it doesn’t need to be costly; any contribution - however small - can make a world of difference.
“Come and join us, the Mums Army needs YOU!”
Jeffery, who is also taking the role as commander-in-chief of the Mums Army, added: “Perhaps the most uniting role in the world is that of the mum in her family and community.
“We want to give all mums, wherever they are, the same access to clean safe water that we take for granted”
“It’s the same all around the globe and we’re asking mums in this country to help mums in the developing world keep their children safe and secure and offer them as good a chance as possible in life - nothing more or less than we as mums in this country would want to offer our children.”
The launch of the campaign coincided with the launch of a short film called Imagine, which was also premiered at the event.
Produced by Inspired Films, the film highlights the fact that 800 million people in the world do not have access to clean water, and asks viewers to imagine what it would mean to reduce that number to zero.
Creative director Louis Paltnoi said: “We wanted to make people sit up and think; to realise that access to clean safe water should be a basic human right, that no child or family should have to go through this ordeal and most importantly that we can do something about it.
“The film brings closer to home, I hope, what life is like for millions of families across the developing world; and so we called the film Imagine.”
