Scottish Water's Tap to Tap Challenge goes from strength to strength raising more than £1000

“Every mile travelled and every pound raised helps support WaterAid's work bringing clean water to communities around the world while showcasing Scottish Water's extensive Top Up Tap network across the country.”

Bess Homer
Scottish Water

Scottish Water's third annual Tap to Tap Challenge has raised more than £1,000 for WaterAid, with colleagues, friends and family completing walking, running and cycling challenges across Scotland.

The challenge encourages participants to walk, run or cycle between Scottish Water's growing network of Top Up Taps while raising awareness and funds for WaterAid's life-changing work around the world. With 134 Top Up Taps now available across Scotland, this year's event has once again inspired people to create their own unique routes and challenges, with more than 50 people taken part.

Leading the way this year was organiser Bess Homer, who led a family-friendly cycle from the South Queensferry Top Up Tap to join a team of runners at the Scottish Parliament Top Up Tap in Edinburgh. Bess was joined by a group of enthusiastic young cyclists, including several determined eight-year-olds who enjoyed racing alongside riders on electric bikes.

Reflecting on the event, Bess said; "It's fantastic to see colleagues, friends and family getting involved in so many different ways.

"Every mile travelled and every pound raised helps support WaterAid's work bringing clean water to communities around the world while showcasing Scottish Water's extensive Top Up Tap network across the country."

Elsewhere, colleagues embraced the challenge in their own way. Ramon Adesunbo and his seven-year-old son completed an eight-mile cycle route, while Alasdair Craig took on an impressive long-distance run along the Ayrshire coast, covering around 30 kilometres from Irvine to Ayr and visiting several Top Up Taps along the way.

Ramon said: "We’ve had colleagues walk, run and cycle across Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen and beyond. It's a small reminder that, in some parts of the world, people travel significant distances every day simply to access clean water."

The Tap to Tap Challenge celebrates Scotland's fresh, clean drinking water while helping raise vital funds for WaterAid, whose mission is to ensure everyone, everywhere has access to clean safe water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

By refilling reusable water bottles at Scottish Water's Top Up Taps, people can help reduce single-use plastic waste. To date, the network has helped save the equivalent of more than 25 million plastic bottles.