Belu Water hit £1m in donations to WaterAid
Ethical bottled water company Belu has announced it has achieved its target of £1m for charity WaterAid five years early with the help of the catering industry.
Belu donates all of its profits to the international development charity, which works to transform the lives of people living in the poorest regions of the world, by providing access to safe, clean water.
The original pledge in 2014 has now been exceeded in half the allocated time.
"We are thrilled to have reached our £1m target in such record time." said Karen Lynch, CEO of Belu (pictured).
"Five years ago Belu was a drop in the ocean of bottled water brands, and the term ‘social enterprise' was barely heard of. Now, with such a strong partnership between Belu, WaterAid and our customers, we can say that our socially-conscious way of doing business is making a huge difference."
"We are very proud that our model that gives back has resonated with so many top restaurants. We look forward to generating the next million with their support: we couldn't do it without them".
A lunch will be held at Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons to thank Belu's customers in the catering industry, with representatives from restaurant groups D&D Londond, Gail's Bakery and Drake & Morgan among the guest list.
A selection of Belu's top customers will also receive a personalised thank you letter from people benefitting from donated funds for clean water projects in India, Nepal, Madagascar and Ethiopia.
Raymond Blanc, a longstanding customer of Belu commented: "Each aspect of what we do at Le Manoir and what I pass on to my chefs is driven by ethical, environmental, seasonal and regional values, whenever possible."
"I am thrilled to support Belu's credible efforts to make a global difference. They operate a leading company and operate to the highest environmental and ethical standards. Every contribution to enable challenged communities to flourish is vital."
Barbara Frost, chief executive of WaterAid added: "It's absolutely fantastic that Belu has reached its £1m target, and so far ahead of schedule. I'd like to say a very warm thank you to all the restaurants and individuals who've contributed to raising this incredible figure.
Through our relationship with Belu, we are working together to transform lives around the world, bringing safe water and sanitation to those who need it most."