Toilet twinning success praised
MACCLESFIELD MP David Rutley has praised a Poynton charity project which twins toilets around the world.
Toilet Twinning is a scheme whereby people ‘buy’ a toilet in a developing country that is twinned to a home, office, place of work or public toilet in a community in the UK.
The donor receives a certificate and a photo of the new ‘twinned toilet’ in the developing country, including its GPS coordinates.
The money is used to build a toilet and to educate communities about the importance of sanitation.
Poynton Methodist Church has been fundraising for the last 18 months in order to twin toilets in Poynton.
The scheme organisers encourage anyone who visit the toilets in the church to ‘spend a penny’ to donate to the scheme.
The project has been supported by Poynton Town Council and Poynton Library and has so far twinned 31 toilets.
The 11th Poynton Brownies are one group who got involved and raised £80 to twin a toilet at Lower Park School.
The project has now helped Poynton achieved Toilet Twinned Town status.
David Rutley recently met Poynton scheme organiser Catherine Hughes at Poynton Methodist Church.
He said: “I was grateful to receive the certificate from the team in Poynton.
“It’s clear that projects which promote improved hygiene and sanitation make a big difference in improving the life chances of people in less developed countries.
“I wish the scheme in Poynton continued success in taking this important work forward and would encourage more local residents and businesses to get involved.”
Catherine said: “The money is used to build a toilet and to educate communities about the importance of sanitation.
“Ill health in developing countries is an important cause of poor education, as unwell children are unable to go to school and medical care is expensive, which means less money is available for education – or food. It can also be dangerous to not have a toilet, as alternatives can make girls in particular vulnerable to rape and abuse.
“By twinning your toilet, you help those in desperate poverty have access to a proper latrine, clean water and the information they need to be healthy.
“To date, the campaign has twinned 31 toilets, with funding in place for more, which is helping to improve the health outcomes of hundreds of people in developing countries.”