The perfect idea – Water Run an inspired success 2 min read

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In August, the Water Run fundraiser organised by Royal Oak Intermediate’s Room 9 students was an outstanding success, with the pupils raising $1,800 for the Beyond Water charity. 

Beyond Water’s founders, Sharon and Peter Crean, attended the event, and just as they had inspired the pupils it seems the children have inspired them!  They say they had been looking for a distinctive way to promote fundraising for their charity and she believes the students have come up with the perfect idea.  

The run came about after a visit to Royal Oak by Sharon and Peter, who told the students that in parts of Africa people have to walk up to 8km every day, just to access clean water – on average carrying 20 litres a day.  

This inspired the pupils of Room 9 to organise a fundraising event where the class worked in relays to carry 20 litres of water for eight kilometres, which was 185 laps of the school’s back field. 

Sharon and Peter started Beyond Water after their children left home, with Sharon saying it was “simply because we were bored.” She says they did not want to reach the age of 70 without doing something useful. Fortunately, Sharon was an event manager and Peter a builder and handyman, so they had the perfect combination of skills for their charity.  

They have been running Beyond Water from Narobi, Kenya, since 2007. Dedicated to providing clean drinking water and sanitary toilet facilities for communities in Africa the charity is now operating in seven countries. Sharon says they have helped around 240,000 people improve their water supplies, “which means there’s just a billion left to go.” 

The money raised by Room 9 will be donated to the Doves Valley School in northern Uganda, and used to rebuild toilets which were washed away by flooding. Fittingly, the pupils at Doves Valley are around the same age as the Royal Oak students. 

 

The final lap of the 8km. 

Bella Nunn, Peter Crean (Beyond Water), Jemma McKinley, Zoe Lindsay, Sharon Crean (Beyond Water), Becky Boyes (kaiako) Loloko Lulia, Izzy Reynolds, Ruby Whaanga, Lee Tibble (kaiako), Lily Ross, Ayla Wyness 

Teachers Lee Tibble and Becky Boyes accepting Masai blankets from Sharon and Peter Crean as a thank you to the class.