Giant Mosaic created on Wimbledon Court
WaterAid and the Wimbledon Foundation unveil giant tennis court mosaic to
‘make a racket’ about clean water
- Charity reveals 1,000 children’s lives could be saved each day of The Championships, Wimbledon
- Mosaic made of tennis nets, balls and rackets hammers home powerful message – with The Championships just weeks away
WaterAid and the Wimbledon Foundation took over a tennis court at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, to create a giant mosaic. The image is of a young boy and his mother enjoying clean water and is created entirely from tennis nets, balls and rackets.
The artwork highlights a powerful message: that more than 1,000 children’s lives could be saved each day of The Championships if they had access to safe water, toilets and hygiene*.
It took a team of artists from Sand in Your Eye ninehours to create the striking image on one of Wimbledon’s grass tennis courts next to the iconic Centre Court. Unveiled today, less than a month before the world’s most watched tennis event begins, the image features 18-month-old Dylan and his mother Anja, 23, from Antsakambahiny village in Madagascar who, with the help of WaterAid and the Wimbledon Foundation, now have clean water** in their community.
Across the world, a staggering 703 million people – nearly one in 10 – are living without clean water close to home and 1.5 billion people – nearly one in five – do not have a decent toilet of their own. Almost half of hospitals, healthcare centres and doctor’s surgeries in the world’s least developed countries lack clean water.
Without access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, children’s lives are needlessly and often tragically put at risk. Almost 400,000 children under five die every year due to diseases caused by unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. WaterAid has revealed that’s more than 1,000 children a day – nearly one child every one and a half minutes. Many more are frequently ill, and often children are forced to spend hours out of school collecting water and compromising their education.
Anja, 23, a local schoolteacher and mum to Dylan, says:
“As a mother, what matters most in life is Dylan and his future. Water is close now, which gives me more time to be with him, to play with him and to educate him at home. Dylan doesn’t get diarrhoea or sick as often because the water we use is clean and healthy. Dylan is an easy little boy. He is amiable, he likes playing and he is curious. He’s also a little funny.
“As a teacher, what matters most to me is to do my best at educating my pupils – to do what is needed to help them succeed. Before we got running water at school, we used to send some of our older pupils to collect waterfrom the pond down the hill. Then we had to ration what they got. Now, teachers and pupils can drink water anytime we want. Pupils can wash their hands at any time they need. They are now able to play and just be kids. They can focus on their studies and have more time to read books at our library.”
Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive at WaterAid, said:
“Clean water is a game changer; it has the power to unlock people’s potential meaning children like Dylan can grow up healthy and communities can thrive. It means less time wasted walking to collect water, and more time to learn, work and play. But nearly one in 10 people around the world live without this essential resource close to home.
“This giant tennis mosaic, at Wimbledon’s world-famous grounds, is a poignant reminder of how more than 1,000 children’s lives could be saved each day of The Championships if everyone, everywhere had safe water, toilets and hygiene.
“Together with the Wimbledon Foundation, WaterAid is working tirelessly to call game, set and match on the water crisis and create a world in which all of us can survive and thrive.”
Bruce Weatherill, Chairman of the Wimbledon Foundation, said:
“Children should have the chance to play, learn and look forward to their futures, no matter where they are born. But millions are being held back due to a lack of safe water and toilets – things that so many of us take for granted. More than 1,000 children’s lives could be saved every day of The Championships if they had access to these essentials.
“That is why the Wimbledon Foundation and WaterAid are working together to make clean water, decent toilets and hygiene a normal part of daily life in healthcare facilities and communities across the world. These vital services are a game changer; helping to ensure healthy lives full of potential to learn, work and play.”
The Wimbledon Foundation, the charitable arm of The All England Lawn Tennis Club and The Championships, has been working in partnership with WaterAid since 2017 to help make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene a normal part of daily life in communities and healthcare centres across Ethiopia, Nepal, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali and Myanmar.
Last year, the Wimbledon Foundation announced an extension of the partnership for a further four years, pledging £2.2 million to support the not-for-profit’s work in healthcare centres and communities around the world. The renewed partnership will see the Wimbledon Foundation and WaterAid build on this work and expand into Pakistan and Mozambique.
The tennis balls were donated by Slazenger, Official Ball of The Championships, and the nets by Edwards Sports, supplier of the world’s finest nets used at The Championships. The rackets were loaned by Give It Your Max, a children’s tennis charity whose ongoing sustainability campaign, ‘Unloved & Unwanted’, collects preloved tennis rackets and redistributes them to children in their school programmes, with the surplus sold on their website and the proceeds going back to the charity.
The tennis nets and balls will be donated to local charities supported by the Wimbledon Foundation, including the Tim Henman Foundation and Tennis For Free. A number of tennis nets will also go to the Wandsworth Work and Play Scrapstore, a charity which reuses resources for educational, artistic, play, create, social or therapeutic activities.
WaterAid
WaterAid is an international not-for-profit determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. We work alongside communities in 22 countries to secure these three essentials that transform people’s lives. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 28 million people with clean water and nearly 29 million people with decent toilets.
For more information, visit wateraid.org/uk, follow Twitter @WaterAidUK, @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress, or Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.
- 703 million people in the world – almost one in ten – don’t have clean water close to home.1
- 2.2 billion people in the world – more than one in four – don’t have safe water.1
- Almost 2 billion people in the world – one in four – lack soap and/or water to wash their hands at home, if they have a place at all.1
- 1.5 billion people in the world – almost one in five – don’t have a decent toilet of their own.1
- 570 million people in the world – 1 in 14 – have a decent toilet but have to share it with people outside their family. This compromises the privacy, dignity and safety of women and girls.2
- Almost 400,000 children under five die every year due to diseases caused by unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. That’s more than 1000 children a day, or almost one child every one and a half minutes.2
- Investing in safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene services provides up to 21 times more value than it costs.3
[1] WHO/UNICEF (2023). Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022: special focus on gender. Available at: washdata.org/reports/jmp-2023-wash-households-launch (accessed 11 Jul 2023).
[2] WHO (2023). Burden of disease attributable to unsafe drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene: 2019 update. Available at: who.int/publications/i/item/9789240075610 (accessed 24 Jul 2023).
[3] WaterAid (2021). Mission-critical: Invest in water, sanitation and hygiene for a healthy and green economic recovery. Available at: washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/mission-critical-invest-water-sanitation-hygiene-healthy-green-recovery (accessed 1 Nov 2023).
*‘Safe water, toilets and hygiene’ means people have: (a) a water supply at home that is safe to drink and free from contamination, and running water which is available when it’s needed; (b) a toilet of their own that’s not shared with another household and where all excreta is treated and disposed of safely, and (c) a place to wash their hands with soap and water at home.
**‘Clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene’ means people have: (a) a water supply that has the potential to deliver safe water which is free from contamination, could take more than a 30 minute roundtrip including queuing to collect, and may have running water which is available when it’s needed; (b) a place to go to the toilet that may be shared with two or more households, where all excreta is hygienically separated from human contact, but it’s not treated and disposed of safely, and (c) a place to wash their hands with soap and water at home.
About the Wimbledon Foundation
The Wimbledon Foundation is the official charity of The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and The Championships. Its mission is to champion opportunity for all using the collective strength of Wimbledon to make a positive difference to people’s lives. The Wimbledon Foundation is a registered charity (1156996) and a company limited by guarantee (8559364). www.wimbledon.com/foundation
About Sand In Your Eye
Sand In Your Eye is a creative organisation established in 2003 and based in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. They specialise in sand sculptures, ice sculptures, pumpkin carvings, sand drawings and land art.
They have worked commercially for companies such as the BBC, Disney, JD Sports and Groupon with outstanding projects for Land Rover to create a 1KM beach drawing, and Aardman Animation to make the Guinness World Record largest stop motion animation and also work with many local authorities and festivals to produce stunning sand drawings, pumpkin and ice sculpture trails, land art and sand sculptures.
As well as their work supporting charities such as WaterAid, Fairtrade, Surfers Against Sewage, Macmillan, Sand In Your Eye are passionate about many causes with a specific interest in climate change and have created self-led projects addressing homelessness, saving the bees, International Women’s Day, the corona virus crisis, and Sand In Your Eye has been net zero as a company since 2021.
On International Peace Day September 21st, 2013 Sand In Your Eye made The Fallen 9000 where they drew 9000 stencils of fallen people on the beaches of Arromanches to visually demonstrate what happens in the absence of peace, the piece was featured in TIME magazine.
In 2019 they collaborated with Danny Boyle and 14-18 NOW on ‘Pages of the Sea’ where 30 faces were drawn into the sand nationally to commemorate 100 years since Armistice Day. The project was awarded the ‘Best Visual Art Award’ by The South Bank Sky Arts Awards.
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