Peeing for Britain


Ten thousand loos spread over 362 toilet blocks have been installed at the London Olympics in a bid to outrun the needs of more than 7.5 million ticket holders.

Disposal of human waste was one of the many practical issues at the forefront of the Olympic planners’ minds, particularly as they had a commitment to reduce the amount of drinkable water consumed.  A new treatment plant, opened this year, helps cut water usage at the park: raw sewage is cleaned using bio-membranes and the resulting liquid is suitable for toilet flushing and to irrigate the four Olympic flower gardens.

Athletes’ needs were not neglected.  Gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy, for example, was invited to contribute to the design of the 6,000 seat velodrome, which, along with its waterless urinals, boasts trackside toilets.  Some other venues have rainwater harvesting equipment.

All this looks like good value for money, and indeed sustainability has been riding high at this year’s games despite being lampooned in a very British way on the BBC comedy Twenty Twelve.

But for longer-term change, £60 to twin your loo, and bring about a permanent improvement for people overseas living without decent sanitation, looks like an Olympian-sized winner!

Champion Twinner Gweirydd Williams talks to Toilet Twinning

Introduce yourself in under 30 words:
I’m Gweirydd Williams, Environmental Health Officer in Bridgend, South Wales.

How many toilets have you twinned (directly and indirectly)?
I’ve twinned 34 toilets so far. The first was at the council offices where I work:  instead of sending Christmas cards we donate money towards a charity and I proposed Toilet Twinning. 

Then – on a roll - I wrote to my local MP, Huw Irranca-Davies, who twinned a toilet in his office, and I also twinned one at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in Wales.  

Some missionary friends of mine were visiting and saw my twinned toilet, so I twinned theirs in the Philippines as a gift. I think it’s the first twin from that part of the world! 

Recently I had the idea of having my back waxed. I roped in Scott, my next door neighbour, who’s a bit of a good laugh.  It was quick, painful and different, and yielded enough to twin 22 toilets so it was well worth it.  There’s a video of us having the waxing on YouTube click here

When did you first hear about Toilet Twinning?
I’ve known about Tearfund since I was a teenager, and am now a Tearfund representative. I saw a Toilet Twinning leaflet in a Tearfund Christmas catalogue and it all started from there.

 What stood out to you about Toilet Twinning?
As a Christian, I liked the fact that the scheme is run through Christian charities, and that a definite amount - £60 – is asked. Having travelled to the Philippines both with my church and the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, I’ve seen what happens when people don’t have toilets and how it impacts them. Also, as an Environmental Health Officer I often have to deal with issues around waste and sewage so I know the dangers.

How have you encouraged others to support Toilet Twinning?
I visited my daughter’s school to give a talk on hand-washing and hygiene, and they decided to twin their toilets. I have since written to other schools in the area to see whether they would also be interested in a visit from their local Environmental Health Officer about Toilet Twinning.

What are your plans for the near future?
We will be holding a Mission Night in our church in October to raise funds for Toilet Twinning and I am thinking about having a bag packing day at a local superstore.  I’ve also got some great ideas for next year’s sponsored activity but at the moment it is under wraps!

What’s your Toilet Twinning ambition?
I hope that many, if not all, of the 22 local authorities in Wales will twin their toilets, as well as schools and churches.  My overall aim is to twin 100 toilets, so there’s only another 66 to go!

Toilet Twinning says 'Thank you Gweirydd!'

My runs were for Toilet Twinning...

Toilet Twinning asked marathon runner and blogger 'Ready to Run' to guest blog: 

So here's the thing: I decided to enter a marathon just over six months ago, blogging about anything that tickled my fancy along the way. All those phrases about having the runs and running to the loo kept popping into my mind, as I was bursting every time I got to my front door following a run!

 

It seemed apt to introduce Toilet Twinning to my friends, colleagues and family. And, on a serious note, the venture does fantastic work to bring sanitation to those who need it; introducing the issues on its website in a fun, engaging way.

If you want to raise money, writing a blog as you go will attract people’s attention, and advertise your charity too. I found just posting a link to Toilet Twinning was enough to get people engaged, and then giving. Having a Virgin Money Giving page meant that I didn’t directly need to ask people to donate.

As it stands with gift aid, I have raised close on £700 which is enough for almost 12 toilet twins!   Consider using a pseudonym for your blog. I decided to use song lyrics and film titles to give my blog, Ready to Run, an identity of its own: https://sites.google.com/site/phoebestewart1965/

 Here are some extracts from my blog:

The Boys are back in Town 22/12/12 Thin Lizzy 1976

Well I ran near midnight for this short run with two of my four sons, number one and number three.  I wonder if the second son is fed up getting referred to as a no 2 !  … the boys danced, ran backwards, sideways and all-sorts in order to keep to my slow pace. I completed the run in my fastest time so it looks like their antics paid off.

Wind beneath my Wings 1/1/12

This Bette Midler song was played on the radio as I ran my LONG run of eight miles along the coast on New Year's Day.  Maybe it was the endorphins, but as I ran and listened I began to pick up pace and sung these lyrics out loud. I was singing to myself!  I was my own hero; my self esteem had gone sky high … people moved out of my way as I passed, other runners gave me that “You go girl” look. It felt great, the weather changed, the rain, wind and waves came, I loved it, another 'first' and on New Year's Day.

Dog days are over 13/2/12 Florence and the Machine

…Run for your mother

Run fast for your father…

Well today saw me run to my home town, very nostalgic, I ran past my parents' home, though they are no longer there... Lots of memories came to the fore, two hours and 50 minutes worth! It was 12 miles, me running 12 miles, me running to my home town, ME, ME. It was ME.

Run Forrest Run -  eve of Marathon 6/5/12

The clip from Forrest Gump when he starts to run really resonated with me when I watched it today … before I started running it was just another movie clip. I had thought of running a marathon when I turned 40. However, a few difficult things had happened along the way so I never got round to it.  

But then like Forrest “I decided to go for a little run...”

Eight pit latrines twinned from one man’s moustache!

A Bristolian moustache has been shaved off at auction to provide no less than eight toilets. What fab facial follicles to produce such a result! 

We can’t now see whether the moustache in question was waxed and twiddled, a Dali curve or a bit of a bushy nostril warmer, so perhaps Steve Wilmhurst, our newly-bare donor, could pick out his style from the chart below and let us know:

 Credit: MOUSTACHE by yana segal

Whatever it was (and RIP) it has been used to bring transformation in some of the poorest communities across the globe.  

But that’s not all. Steve’s friends from the youth group at Kensington Baptist Church in Easton, Bristol, under the leadership of Rebekah Rice, got together for a dinner and auction that raised over £2,000, including the moustache money – so all in all that’s enough for 30 toilets in Burundi!

Organiser Rebekah said: 

‘We had a wonderful evening.  It was great fun, and we even had someone there from the BBC, who interviewed some of our youth group! Everyone was so, so generous and we raised over £2,000.’  

Relief and development charity Tearfund (who run Toilet Twinning in partnership with peacebuilding agency Cord) sent their Volunteer Manager for the South West, John Archer, to talk about the twinning scheme.  

He said 'it was a brilliant night with over 50 auction lots, and dancers who would have done well on Britain’s Got Talent.  Best of all, it’s provided toilets for as many people in Burundi as attend Bristol’s Kensington Baptist Church.'

Toilet Twinning thinks that’s a top result!  Thank you Kensington youth group.

Toilet twinning for Dads

You know how dads are – they tend to go on a lot about the value of education.  Do your homework, pay attention in class, remember all the kids in the world who don’t get any schooling etc. Well this Father’s Day, you could empower your papa with a bit of learning around loo etiquette, starting with cleaning the bowl:

Eco-friendly toilet cleaner - you will need:

1 measure white vinegar

¼ measure bicarbonate of soda (sodium bicarbonate – available in hardware shops)

Method:

Put the bicarbonate of soda into the toilet bowl and add the vinegar slowly.

It will foam, so be careful not to let it overflow.

Leave for 10 – 20 minutes.

Scrub the bowl with a toilet brush

Then flush to rinse – easy!

If he seems a little reluctant to take on the task, remember it’s a good bonding thing to watch films with your dad – try this short one to get him in the mood for the toilet task:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsAq1_5lxhQ

When your dad has mastered the technique, remind him to keep your mum happy and put the seat down! More than half the women (54%) quizzed by home shopping retailer 24studio.co.uk, in their 2010 survey of 1,165 women, said failure to put the seat down was their man's most irritating trait.  If this is all too much hard work, you could take the easy option for Father’s Day and twin his toilet for him instead.  He’ll get a framed picture of his twin to hang in his own loo. 

Just click on the Twin your toilet now! tab above.

"We are proud of our latrine"

This is Mrs Nyirakazimana, a farmer who lives with her husband and seven children in Tshoko, North Kivu, DRC.

Here, Mrs Nyirakazimana speaks about the recent community-led total sanitation (CLTS) scheme she has been part of:

We live on a plot that does not belong to us. It belongs to a plantation, so we work every day in the owner’s fields to pay our rent. Before the CLTS training here, we did not understand the importance of building a latrine. I can say that my family, our neighbours and our community all lived amidst the stools and dirt, but we didn’t understand how it was affecting us. 

Today, all of my children know that each time they use the toilet, they must cover the latrine hole and leave it clean. I find that since me and my neighbour have built latrines our children are sick much less than before.

My husband and I make sure that our latrine is clean, both inside and outside. We are proud of our latrine.

This project helped me to discover that the family latrine is extremely important. My family continues to use all the information on hygiene that we learnt. Practically speaking, my children are healthier now than they’ve ever been.

We have benefited from training and awareness of hygiene issues. A number of months ago I built my toilet, and since our training I’ve poured ash inside the toilet hole to reduce odours. Before, the fields were so smelly because we used them openly as our toilet. But now, with new latrines and the use of ash, there are no more smells. I also know now that I should cover the hole so as to reduce the flies inside the latrine. All of my children wash their hands after using the toilet.

Our needs are many, but in priority I believe that clean water is very important for us. Another need is knowledge. My community and our neighbours need to be sensitised more and more so that we’ll grown in our knowledge and understanding of the importance of family latrines.

Toilet Twinner runs length of Britain

Tom, ready to run, with his
Toilet Twinning certificate

Hello toilet twinners of the world and many thanks for this opportunity to guest blog.

My name is Tom and I have chosen Toilet Twinning as one of two charities to support as I run from John O'Groats to Land's End (JOGLE).

Preparations are almost complete and it is now less than 2 weeks until departure. You can follow my progress on my blog: www.tomrunsjogle.com.

With the kind support of those closest to me and inspiration from adventurers such as Rosie Swale-Pope I decided that my ambition would take me the length of the country. I will be running nearly 900 miles over 36 days to complete the JOGLE route.  

My journey will hold untold treats and surprises, and I will no doubt have many moments of physical and mental joy as well as despair to enjoy and endure as I make my way through almost a marathon each day.

I discovered Toilet Twinning a couple of years ago and my own foray into twinning has resulted in our bathroom toilet having a partner in Burundi, delighting our visiting guests with such a simple but rewarding concept.

I am very proud to be running to raise money for Toilet Twinning and I hope that my adventure spurs you on in your own life and helps to renew your support.      

If you like to run or enjoy looking after wayward runners with a cold drink and a kind word as they pass your neighbourhood then get in touch. My route is on the blog, I'd love to see you.

Tom

We'll be following Tom's blog and giving you updates along the way. If you're able to support Tom as he takes on this fantastic challenge, please do get in touch with him and let us know as well.