Central Hall Westminster has beaten its £20,000 fundraising target for its toilet twinning charity, which works to provide water and sanitation to poverty-stricken families around the world.
Since becoming a ‘Loominary’ for the charity, the venue has gone on to raise much needed funds by ‘twinning’ its own toilets at the central London conference centre.
The charity programme involves event attendees and visitors being asked to donate small change to a cause that aims to provide access to a proper latrine, clean water and information for improving health in some very poor areas.
The UK-based charity, set up in 2010, asks businesses and individuals to ‘twin’ their toilets in return for a £60 donation. The donor then receives a certificate of their toilet’s twin containing a photo, the latrine’s location and its GPS coordinates, which they can proudly display in their smallest room.
Over a 20-month period, Central Hall Westminster has collected a total of £21,243 from event professionals, delegates and visitors.
Toilet Twinning CEO Lorraine Kingsley comments: “We’re so grateful to all the staff at Central Hall Westminster who have been so enthusiastic in prompting people to donate to us – and to the many visitors who have given so generously to our work.
“Toilets are something we tend to take for granted until we don’t have ready access to one, perhaps when we are out and about or in a public building. We find people are often moved or shocked to find so many people in the world – one in three people – still don’t have a basic, safe toilet.”
Central Hall Westminster MD Paul Southern added: “We are not simply an events venue, we also exist to provide money for charitable works around the world. Any profits from the numerous and varied events held here are used to maintain our iconic building and to support charities. This scheme offers an additional way to contribute to causes that we feel strongly about.”
Central Hall Westminster will continue to support the charity, which has just completed a refurbishment of all the collection boxes at the venue.
