Cafe helps flush away poverty
Tyndrum’s Real Food Cafe is feeling flush after funding 100 toilets in Malawi.
As well as its work to raise £6,000 with charity Toilet Twinning, the cafe has just been accredited as an official Toilet Twinning village.
A Justgiving page, social media pushes and other promotions in the cafe helped bring in the funds needed, including limited edition cupcakes being sold on National Fish and Chip Day.
To mark the achievement, the cafe team were joined by Dr Peter West OBE, the Scottish Consul in Malawi; Iain Woodhouse, Professor of Applied Earth Observation at the University of Edinburgh; and Henry Kadzuwa, forestry officer and GIS unit head for the government of Malawi and currently a PHD student at the University of Edinburgh.
Sarah Heward, co-owner of the Real Food Cafe, said: ‘It is hard to believe that 2.3 billion people do not have access to a clean toilet, something that we take for granted here in the UK. At the beginning of 2019 we wanted to reach 100 toilets by the end of the year, and I am absolutely delighted we have reached our goal. We will continue to support Toilet Twinning, a fantastic charity working tirelessly to support some of the poorest communities. I hope that one day I will visit Malawi to see the fantastic work of the Toilet Twinning team.’
Lorraine Kingsley, CEO of Toilet Twinning, added: ‘We are so grateful for all the Real Food Cafe has done to inspire its customers to support its appeal to twin 100 toilets in Malawi. We hear stories all the time of how a family’s life has completely changed beyond all recognition through something as simple as learning how and where to build a toilet, and about hygiene practices such as washing your hands before you eat.
‘The Real Food Cafe has made Toilet Twinning a true community effort, and there is no doubt that the lifesaving benefits of their fundraising efforts will bring lasting, far-reaching transformation to communities in far-flung places.’
Malawi was chosen partly due to co-owner of the cafe Alan McColm’s work in Malawi, building sustainable management systems and the strong Scotland-Malawi partnership.