During the Covid-19 pandemic, the travel industry has been decimated by the biggest public health issue any of us have experienced. Borders have closed, hotels and restaurants shut down, and tourism has almost ceased to exist.   

At the same time, communities across the world who don’t have access to water were faced with unprecedented barriers to halt the spread of Covid and stay safe. Without access to clean water, people were unable to wash their hands and protect themselves from infection. To add to this, when individuals are forced to walk to collect water from rivers and other unsafe sources on a daily basis, they often become sick, holding back development and making it harder for communities to escape the poverty trap. 

With all of this in mind, World Health Day 2022 is more important than ever!

 As the first green shoots of recovery have begun within the travel industry, we are actively encouraging industry professionals to unite in a positive effort to build back better and to help raise much needed funds for our continued efforts to bring clean water and sanitation to deprived communities around the world. 

To mark World Health Day 2022, we are inviting some of the biggest travel companies, their employees, families and friends across the United Kingdom to come Back with a Splash on the week of April 7.  We’d like to invite you to swim, walk, boat or cycle the 42,700 miles of river, canals and inward waterways—all to raise awareness about the importance of clean water, and funds for our incredibly important work. 

Getting involved is simple, all you need to do is:   

1. Reply to this email and pledge how many miles your company is going to travel in the week in World Health Week (4th April to 10th April)  

1. Ask your travel colleagues to make a small donation of £5 to take part in the event, and then set up your company JustGiving Page to raise even more through individual sponsorship. To create a JustGiving Page, click here and select ‘Start Fundraising’: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/BackWithaSplash   

1. Follow the progress on our map and share the campaign with your friends and family. We’ll track the number of miles made by every travel company over the week and keep the page updated!   

There is no doubt the past two years have been incredibly difficult for everyone in the travel industry. As we begin to see a light at the end of a very long tunnel, as industry professionals, we have the opportunity to re-set our goals and to embrace new, sustainable and more positive ways to conduct our business. 

We would really like to encourage our travel colleagues to come Back with a Splash and to support our efforts to make real improvements in the lives of individuals the world’s most deprived communities.