08:00
All ages
Sign up FREE
Fundraise £150
Will you Walk for Water so women like Harriet don't have to?
Around the world, women and girls are being held back by having to walk 5km or more for water every day – denying them vital opportunities to earn, learn, and take control of their futures.
Show solidarity – and raise funds to help change this – by walking 155km, the equivalent of 5km a day, over the month.
703 million people in the world – almost 1 in 10 of us – still don't have clean water close to home.
Without clean water, whole communities are held back: children miss out on education, people struggle to earn a decent living, and families often fall ill.
For women and girls, the burden is even greater. Millions face difficult journeys, every single day, just to fetch the water they and their families need to survive.
The time and energy devoted to collecting water could be better spent in school, with family, or earning a living.
I really feel envious when I see that the other villages have water and we don't. I feel like the world belongs to them and we're just visitors. Harriet Jazimon, Noala, Malawi
Sign up today, raise £5, and receive a pair of blue laces:
Sign up on your own, with a team, or your school.
Share your fundraising page with your friends and family.
Aim to walk 155km over the month or 5km every day. Track your distance via the Strava app or manually on your page.
Complete your Walk for Water challenge at a pace that suits you. You can reach your distance in as many or as few days as you like. Do a few kilometres each day during the week, or go for some long walks on the weekends. The choice is all yours!
Taking part as a team is a great way to stay motivated. You can create a team right from your own fundraising page, you’ll then be able to send this new team page to your teammates who can join the team from there.
Your team page will let you see how much each team member has raised and how far each of you has walked for your challenge. Challenge your teammates to go that little bit further and see who will walk the furthest!
You'll all get matching Walk for Water shoe laces too!
Your target is to raise £150.
Around the world, women and girls are being held back by having to walk 5km or more for water every day – denying them vital opportunities to earn, learn, and take control of their futures.
Show solidarity – and raise funds to help change this – by walking 155km, the equivalent of 5km a day, over the month.
Walk for women like Harriet, a 27-year-old single mother of three who spends up to six hours a day collecting water for her family.
With no clean water source near her home in Noala, southern Malawi, Harriet has no choice but to walk an hour to a different village. Despite setting off at 6am, she has to wait for the local residents to finish at the taps before she can take her turn. When the queues are long, she doesn’t get home until midday.
With clean water on tap, Harriet would instead be free to spend her time developing her vegetable garden, and building a brighter future for her family.
Walk for girls like 13-year-old Sawumu, from Mutukula in eastern Uganda, who has to fetch water from a distant dam twice a day.
Sawumu wakes up early to make it to the dam and back before school starts. After school, she’ll make the same round trip again. Like any teenager, Sawumu should be focusing on her education and spending time with friends and family – instead, carrying ten litres of water twice a day leaves her exhausted.
Water from the dam is contaminated by animals, and diseases are common. Sawumu’s looking forward to the day when she’ll simply be able to turn on a tap, safe in the knowledge that the water she drinks won’t make her sick.
When you sign up, your very own bespoke Walk for Water fundraising page is created for you.
This is where you can keep track of your activity tracking and fundraising, all in one place. You can set up a profile page – adding an image and personal story – and start earning virtual badges and climbing up our distance and fundraising leader boards.
You can also share your profile page with friends and family, so they can see the amazing challenge you're undertaking – as well as the progress you’re making - and show their support by making a donation.
If you're below the age of 18 please ensure a parent or legal guardian above 18 years old signs up on your behalf.
Rosemary developed a new habit of lunchtime walks:
My target was to walk 4km a day for a whole month. I work full-time, but I was determined and used my lunch break to walk around my neighbourhood in Leeds. All the walkers really kept me going. WaterAid has set up a Facebook group where everyone taking part can encourage each other. It really gives you a boost when it’s been a hard day. I have to say it’s the best thing that can happen to you, knowing that you’re going to make a difference to somebody who is not as privileged as you are. I’ll definitely be doing it again – when you’ve done it once, met all the other inspiring people doing it, and seen what you’re capable of, you’re hooked. Rosemary Song, WaterAid walker
Peter posted regularly about his walks on the event's Facebook Group:
He documented the walks he and his dog, Alf, took. On World Water Day Peter reflected on why taking on the challenge is so important to him:
Day 22 of Walk for Water Challenge 2024 (127 km so far) and World Water Day. A reminder that 703 million people in the world – that's almost one in ten of us – don't have clean water close to home. Without this basic human right, whole communities are held back: children miss out on an education, people struggle to earn a decent living, and families are often ill. A walk around the local reservoir. Peter Fardy, WaterAid supporter