Woolies Water Fund - Help Get Water to Schools

How can learners stay safe when many schools throughout South Africa don’t have SUSTAINABLE access to water? Together with the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet Programme, Woolworths started the WOOLIES WATER FUND to raise funds and give schools sustainable access to clean water. We did so by installing rainwater tanks in schools across three provinces as well as installing 600+ handwashing stations and helping to educate learners about the importance of water conservation and the preservation of this resource through the Woolworths Making the Programme digital platform.

Through the Woolworths Making the Difference platform, we aim to provide valuable online educational resources and guidelines on ways in which educators, parents and learners are able to preserve water at home, at schools and within their broader communities. For more information, visit https://mtd.woolworths.co.za

We also upgraded their borehole pumps and filtration systems to benefit schools and surrounding communities by providing sustainable access to safe, clean and fresh water.

But we’re not done.

Every swipe of your MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet card helps us further our commitment to ensure that as many schools as possible have access to clean and sustainable water for a safe, hygienic, fresh start in life.

The water collected in the rainwater tanks can be used for handwashing stations and toilets, to be able to support schools and prevent the disruption of learning due to the impact of water outages.  The aim is to assist schools to grow sustainable food gardens of vegetables and fruit for school lunches, and to share the produce with their communities.

To date, Woolworths and MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet Programme, have given back up to the value of R7.3 million towards installing tanks to schools. With your help, we can do so much more. 

Together with our partners, we’ve also installed a total of 600+ handwashing stations and foot-pedal sanitising units, as well as donated hygiene kits that include sanitisers, soap, bleach and masks to schools and communities in need, to enhance the hygiene conditions and well-being of thousands, giving children in particular, a safe, hygienic, fresh start in life. 

Keep track of our progress here

Helping Won't Cost a Cent

If you’re already a MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet supporter, you can help by supporting the WOOLIES WATER FUND. It’s easy – simply make the WOOLIES WATER FUND one of your beneficiaries, and it won’t cost you a cent! Then, every time you shop and swipe your card, a percentage of what you spend will be given to the Fund on your behalf.

Simply SMS “water” to 31231 to link your card. Every time you swipe your card, a percentage of your spend goes to the fund. SMSes are free.

Not a MySchool supporter yet?  Sign up online at www.myschool.co.za

Buy a Woolies branded bottle or canned water and contribute to our goal of installing rainwater tanks, infrastructure, filtration systems and handwashing stations at schools that do not have sustainable access to clean water.

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Part of A Bigger Picture

The establishment of the WOOLIES WATER FUND is just one part of a long-term, sustainable programme that has water conservation at its heart. Here’s more about what the Making The Difference Digital Platform: www.mtd.woolworths.co.za   and MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet are already doing for nature conservation. To read more about what Woolies is doing to protect this precious resource, click here.

With your help, we can make even more of a difference to the lives of the children at these schools, as well as to their communities.

How we chose our schools

Planned Impact and Interventions:

The projected impact of the project will include over 70 000 learners and over 1 550 staff members and of course, the greater community that will benefit from these systems.

We seek to create greater resilience; water sustainability and water sovereignty at schools. The project will provide rainwater harvest (and filtration) systems at under-resourced schools for use in drinking, cooking, irrigation and ablution.

  • Upgrading of building infrastructure to enable rainwater harvesting
  • Install water points where applicable
  • Install, stabilise and treat existing water tanks, installing new tanks where necessary
  • Install filtration systems
  • Install filtration systems (where applicable)

When Will The Project Be Initiated?

The WOOLIES WATER FUND is an ongoing project, having completed projects across three provinces since the inception of the fund. We’ve also upgraded borehole pumps and filtration systems to ensure schools and entire communities have better access to fresh, clean drinking water.

Who is involved in the implementation of the funds?

Implementation of projects using funds raised for the WOOLIES WATER FUND is overseen by a cross-functional team consisting of individuals from us at Woolworths, as well as MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet Programme, with oversight from our very own Head of Sustainability at Woolies.

How to offer further support:

The MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet programme raises funds for over 8 000 schools and charities, and every time you shop, they give back a percentage of your spend to your chosen charities.

Raise funds for the WOOLIES WATER FUND by linking your Woolworths, WRewards or MySchool card to the WOOLIES WATER FUND.

Add the WOOLIES WATER FUND as a beneficiary here.

Buy a Woolies branded bottle or canned water and contribute to our goal of installing rainwater tanks, infrastructure, filtration systems and handwashing stations at schools that do not have sustainable access to clean water.

SHOP NOW