Anonymous donation.

We have some marvellous news. An anonymous donation of £60,000 has been given to Dorothy's Well Project. This significantly boosts our fund raising and will allow us to build at least 2 extra wells and latrines next year.

The donation has come as a result of the coverage on BBC Look North. The benefactors were keen to support the project as it is normal local people helping those in a less fortunate circumstance, and all funds raised go direct to the project.

The BBC report can be seen at http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/wear/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8225000/8225461.stm

Just Giving is now available

We are now a registered charity and have a site on Just Giving.
Just Giving is a website where you can make a donation to our fund raising.
Log onto the site at:

http://www.justgiving.com/Charity/Donate.aspx?cid=187331

You can of course still pass donations to Jim or any of the fund raisers and we can easily claim back the gift aid on your donation. Remember if you pass any donations to us 100% of your donation and the gift aid goes to the charity, we do not take off any expenses.

Future plans

We have now been recognised by the Charities Commission as a charity and our registration is almost complete. This will allow us to claim gift aid on all our donations and in addition, we will be opening a 'Just Giving' site for people who chose to use this.





There will be a chance to see the video of the well drilling at a coffee morning in Esh village, look out for information or posters in the village.





Support from BBC Look North continues and they plan to screen some of the video on 23rd September. A date which is poignant to me as it is the third anniversary of when Dorothy's lost her fight against breast cancer.





We have ambitious plans for our future fund raising including the traditional coffee mornings and a ceilidh. We will again be walking the Coast to Coast and invite you to consider if you would like to join us on the walk. Watch this space or contact me on 07711983252 or by email at jimoconnor@utilityservicesltd.co.uk for further information.

this is the impact we have had

This shows the water which was used for drinking, food preparation and washing prior to the drilling of Dorothy's Well, and the fresh, clean water which was pumped out of the well.





By the simple funding of a well we are able to break a cycle of poor hygiene, illness and death due to the use of contaminated water. Our task is now to provide wells in communities where the need is even greater due to their isolation and filthy water supplies.





Its sad to think that the water is only a few metres under the surface and is there for the people to use if only we can provide them with the funding to build more wells.





How can we walk away and ignore these children . We will continue fund raising and with God's will and your generosity we plan to drill 2 more well in 2010.

Dorothy's Well.

This is the first jets of water coming out of the well, the borehole was giving a good pressure and will serve 350 school children plus a community of 3500.
The borehole was capped and a well head constructed and a simple hand pump installed.





I was very humbled to see the first water coming from a well built in my wife Dorothy's memory and paid for by the incredible generosity of so many people.


This shows the startling difference between a glass of water from the stream and water from Dorothy's well

A plaque was installed to show everyone that this was Dorothy's well.

Would you use this water for your cup of tea for your family

Prior to the drilling of Dorothy's Well the children walked for over an hour to collect water from this muddy stream which had flowed through a number of villages where there was no sanitation and was used by cattle and wild animals.

This is the water that the children collected to use for drinking, food preparation and washing......we would not even wash our cars with it.

Visit to Tanzania.

I have just returned from a very successful visit to Tanzania where I have commissioned the drilling of our first 'Dorothy's Well

I took with me 3 suitcases of soap and school materials for the schools in Machame. These were gifts from our dedicated fundraisers and were well received by the staff and pupils. The Headteacher from one of the schools is seen here with me opening the gifts with gratitude.

The well contract was given to a Christian based drilling company. They had previously carried out a seismic survey to establish that the geology was likely to provide us with a water source.

The drilling took 2 days and whilst we reached water at 15metres we drilled to 100 metres to ensure a clean and reliable water source.

Once the borehole had been drilled the hole was lined with plastic piping and the cavity filled with gravel to act as a filter.