HeyDay magazine sat down with our very own Fiona Jeffery OBE to better understand the inspiration and passion for the cause that drove Fiona to launch Just a Drop in 1998.

As Chairman of World Travel Market, Fiona realised that she had the ideal platform to educate the tourism industry on how to be more environmentally friendly and simultaneously support communities in the destinations where they operate across the world. As a result, World Responsible Tourism Day was launched with support from the UN World Tourism Organisation. However, Fiona still felt that we needed to do more.

Then one evening while bathing her children for bedtime, the penny dropped. “…my son, Cameron who was four, had a habit of sucking the water out of his facecloth. I told him he really should stop as the water was dirty and I explained that lots of children die from drinking dirty water. He asked me some more questions and whilst I looked after his little sister Lauren, I thought he had gone to get into his pyjamas. Instead, I found him sorting out his toy box. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was giving his toys to the children living in Africa, so they had something to play with as they got better. It was a seminal moment because I thought if a four-year-old child could understand the importance of access to clean safe water surely others could, and I had to do something to help.” And Just a Drop was born.

I thought if a four-year-old child could understand the importance of access to clean safe water surely others could, and I had to do something to help.

To read the full HeyDay article, click here.