ON Saturday 15th July, Links Youth Fellowship, completed a challenging sponsored “water walk” in Monmouth.

This was to raise funds for their trip to Soul Survivor, a young people’s Christian festival, and also for Tearfund’s Water and Sanitation project.

They also collected money specifically for Tearfund during the walk. So far they have raised £687, with £148 going to Tearfund, enough to provide four individuals with safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities.

To give the young people a taste of how water is collected by women and children in Africa, the young people carried their buckets and water containers three kilometres in a loop up Monnow Street and through the Vauxhall Fields to collect water from the river.

Then they completed the three kilometres back again with as much water as they could carry. They used water containers strapped to backs and balanced on heads, and other means of carrying buckets.

Links members and leaders carried an average of nine litres each - in Africa the average amount carried is usually double that.

The whole walk took two hours to complete, and the group agreed that to carry twice as much every day would be very difficult, but were glad to be able to empathise with and support those for whom this is a reality.

A spokesperson from Tearfund said: “Having fresh water and proper sanitation is at the very heart of escaping poverty in so many ways.” and thanked Links Youth Fellowship for their amazing support.

To donate contact [email protected].