Grifaid  

Our Grifaid Charity is about safe water for all, it is registered in England (number 1135952). The purpose of the Grifaid Charity is to provide access to safe drinking water for families and communities in developing countries. The objectives of the Grifaid Charity are “to relieve hardship, preserve health and support education among people in poverty residing in developing countries.” Grifaid is the charity arm of our operations, managing the donations we receive and co-ordinating with small charities in the deployment of filters where they are needed in the field.

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The Safe Water Trust Ltd

This is our not-for-profit company based in the UK, company number 06908577, engaged in the design and production of safe drinking water filters for the purposes of humanitarian aid. The Safe Water Trust is the manufacturing arm of our operations, where we produce and supply water filters not only for small charities, including our Grifaid Charity, but also for large international NGOs. We currently operate in a 5000 square feet factory in Washington, Tyne and Wear, UK, where we design and build filters under ISO9001 accreditation and where we hold finished filters in stock ready for despatch.

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How We Began

Building on earlier work by the Rotary organisation which has a long history of involvement in humanitarian aid projects in developing countries and in supporting emergency relief, Rotary District 1030 in the UK had begun to donate locally manufactured water filters to international NGOs operating in developing countries. When Rotary District 1030 appealed for assistance, local engineer and Rotarian John Griffith answered the call by volunteering his world-renowned skills in the field of engineering design. In his garage more than 10 years ago, John started to create new filter designs to meet the requirements for sustainable and environmentally friendly household water treatment filters capable of fitting into emergency aid boxes.

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Funding

The mission of the Grifaid project was and still is based on a not-for-profit model, funded initially by charitable donations. To launch the project the design and development of the new filters would not have been possible without the seed finance from a charitable trust set up by John Griffith and his wife Gill, following the sale of his business. The next phase of the project is to ensure that the new filter designs are addressed to the widest possible range of market segments, so that a sustainable model can be established which will enable us to continue to support our charitable aims and objectives. To ensure we can get filters to people in developing countries who are in desperate need of clean drinking water, the continued support of all our donation partners will always be an important element in the successful achievement of our objectives.