AFTER signing up to a toilet-twinning scheme that aims to change the lives of people around the world, the landlords at a town pub said they wanted to go one step further.
Roy and Rima Chatterjee, who run The Old Well, in Barnard Castle, became the latest business owners to sign up to the scheme when they donated £60 to help provide clean water and basic sanitation in an impoverished community.
Their donation has sponsored a latrine in the small community of Pansa Ptao, Kachin State, in Myanmar.
However, the couple didn’t want to stop there – they wanted to help spread the message further and raise more funds to help build more toilets.
Mrs Chatterjee said: “We lived in Africa for ten years and we are from India and have seen first hand what a big problem this is.
“Basic sanitation is vitally important not just because of hygiene but the safety issues for women and girls.
“The scheme makes a difference. Having lived in two places where this is a big issue, it is really important to us.
“In Africa and India the disparity between affluent and the poor is massive and in some areas the only places people can go to relieve themselves is in the bush or countryside, where there are added dangers, especially for young women.
“We thought if we could spread the word about what the toilet twinning scheme is then perhaps we could also raise more funds to have more toilets created.
“Our aim was to try to raise £180, which would mean that another three toilets would be funded and they would make a massive difference to the livs of those people in the community it would be builtd in,” she said.
The couple organised a live music, toilet-twinning night last Saturday and guests and customers were invited to donate to the fund.
Mrs Chatterjee also created a Facebook donation page and will keep it running until the new year.
She added: “We hope by organising the music night it will raise awareness of the toilet twinning scheme and what a great thing it is.
“Maybe together we can help flush away poverty.”
