Campaigners walk Thames to present water petition to Downing Street

Representatives from Samaritan’s Purse symbolically handed in examples of a postcard petition to 10 Downing Street last Friday as part of a campaign to encourage the Prime Minister and other G8 leaders to help end water poverty in the developing world.

The event was a forerunner to the handing in of thousands of postcards which will take place during the lead up to the G8 summit in Italy in July as part of a campaign spear-headed by End Water Poverty, a coalition which Samaritan’s Purse is part of.

Ian Taylor, Regional Manager of Samaritan’s Purse was one of the walkers to visit 10 Downing Street.

He said: “It was an amazing moment to be standing outside 10 Downing Street reminding our Prime Minister to take action that will change lives. Around 5,000 children die every day as a result of unsafe water and poor sanitation and that is something that we as Christians cannot simply ignore.”

It also came on the penultimate day of a 180 mile walk, which began at the source of the River Thames, in Gloucestershire, on Saturday March 21 and ended near the mouth, at the Thames Barrier in London, on Saturday April 4.

Around 25 walkers from across Greater London came along for the final 8 mile leg, joining two volunteers who walked the entire length of the Thames in the space of two weeks. They completed their walk by posing in front of the Thames Barrier with two giant homemade taps – provided by a supportive church from the East Midlands.

The event was part of their Turn on the Tap campaign - which aims to provide individuals, churches and schools in the UK with the opportunity to directly impact the lives of families living without access to clean water in five countries across Africa.

The walk along the Thames kick started the Global Walk for Water – a spring and Summer-long series of local sponsored walks being organised by churches and schools across the country, with an estimated 25,000 people participating.

For more information on their work around the world and how to get involved, visit www.comingtogetherforgood.org.uk