Green landscape with waterfall

Project Waterfall

Bringing clean drinking water to coffee growing communities

Project Waterfall is the official charity of UK Coffee Week, an annual event which brings together the coffee industry and coffee consumers to give back to the rural communities that grow our coffee by investing in sustainable clean water, sanitation and hygiene projects.

During UK Coffee Week, BRITA joins thousands of participating coffee shops, retailers and food service outlets that raise funds for Project Waterfall. Whether hosting events, organising town coffee crawls or donating money from every cup of coffee served, every penny raised goes to Project Waterfall’s efforts to support coffee-growing communities across the world. Since 2011, Project Waterfall has raised over £1 million, changing over 50,000 lives across Nicaragua, Tanzania, Rwanda, Vietnam, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Project Waterfall is the official charity of UK Coffee Week, an annual event which brings together the coffee industry and coffee consumers to give back to the rural communities that grow our coffee by investing in sustainable clean water, sanitation and hygiene projects.

During UK Coffee Week, BRITA joins thousands of participating coffee shops, retailers and food service outlets that raise funds for Project Waterfall. Whether hosting events, organising town coffee crawls or donating money from every cup of coffee served, every penny raised goes to Project Waterfall’s efforts to support coffee-growing communities across the world. Since 2011, Project Waterfall has raised over £1 million, changing over 50,000 lives across Nicaragua, Tanzania, Rwanda, Vietnam, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Child splashing water

Why do we work with Project Waterfall

BRITA is a long-standing supporter of Project Waterfall because we believe in the importance of access to clean water. Unfortunately, about 785 million people around the world don’t have access to this basic necessity and the majority live in isolated, rural areas – the same areas growing our coffee. Around 90% of coffee drunk around the world is grown in developing countries where nearly two thirds of people lack access to safe, clean water.

It is important to remember that access to clean water changes everything. For example, child mortality rates drop and more girls can spend time in school. At BRITA we believe no one should be without access to clean, safe water, and we are committed to working with Project Waterfall to help ensure this basic necessity is available in more communities across the globe.

Children with water fountain

How BRITA supports Project Waterfall

BRITA has been the headline sponsor of UK Coffee Week for the past four years during which time the event has raised over £580,000 for Project Waterfall and changed the lives of many people across Africa and South East Asia.

Since 2015, BRITA has contributed £100,000 to Project Waterfall, helping to bring clean water to over 170 schools as well as numerous towns and villages across the coffee producing regions of the world. This has included donating profits from the sale of BRITA’s professional filters and organising ‘hydration stations’ at the London Coffee Festival where festival goers could access filtered water.

BRITA is proud that in our very first year of sponsorship, we helped Project Waterfall bring clean drinking water and sanitation to 3,257 people in the Burie district of Ethiopia. Since then, BRITA’s support has helped Project Waterfall raise enough money during UK Coffee Week to bring clean water to 1,253 people living in the remote Chelia and Toke Kutaye districts of Ethiopia, and to bring clean water to schools across Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Most recently, BRITA’s sponsorship of Project Waterfall helped launch the charity’s latest project in the Jabi Tehnan district of Ethiopia, which aims to bring clean water and sanitation to over 10,000 people by 2020.

Related content

Headquarter_710x400 mobile image

News & Stories home

Return to the News & Stories homepage.

Green globe

More CSR stories

Find out about the rest of our charity partners.

Whale

Whale and Dolphin Conservation

Find out about WDC's global work on the conservation and protection of whales and dolphins.