West: Water aid

Paul Barltrop Politics Show West

FRANK is a non-profit, natural spring water

All politics is local, the saying goes. But while the plight of the world's poor moves everyone, doing something about it is much harder.

Hundreds of thousands will march as world leaders assemble for the G8 summit.

Millions will be watching on television.

But Katie Harrison has got a better idea: get out and sell some water.

Frankly water

Katie is the founder of Frank, a small not-for-profit company.

Frank trades in 'ethical, socially-responsible bottled water'; not that the plant near Barnstaple drawing on a Devon spring is particularly different.

No, the benefits will be felt abroad where water is far from clean.

Katie Harrison and Tom Alcott: Katie is the founder of Frank

The idea stemmed from when Katie headed off round the world after graduating from Bristol university.

She and her boyfriend visited some of the planet's poorest places; they went to Mali and Malawi, Bolivia and Bhutan - and several times got sick.

"It was really through travelling and being ill in developing countries, suffering from the water ourselves and seeing how the locals do not have access to clean water," explains Katie.

Clean water projects

Most travellers just recover, come home and feel lucky, but Katie and her partner Tom Alcott wanted to do something to help.

So they set up Frank, which will fund clean water projects around the world.

They sell each bottle for a pound, with 60 pence going to charity.

From each bottle sold, 60p goes to charity

They give out information cards, reminding us as we drink safely that in places like India water-borne diseases account for 85% of hospital admissions.

"Eventually we want to be everywhere," says Tom, "but this is really an awareness and education campaign initially, and then it will be retailed far and wide."

Reciprocal fair trade

So their first aim is the most receptive audience, where they can mix product and message.

They are doing summer festivals, where their bottles with their distinctive logo are starting to get known.

"When people say 'Wow, this is fantastic, keep up the good work,' that kind of thing, you really realise you are doing something worthwhile and satisfying," says Katie.

The firm is based in Bristol, which is already a designated fair-trade city.

They have started to get the bottles into cafes and restaurants; ultimately they would like it to be on supermarket shelves.

"There is huge competition in the bottled water world, but people are liking it and people are understanding it and coming back for more," says Tom.

They will be watching what happens at G8 carefully - but do not hold out great hope.

If you want to help developing countries, they reckon, sometimes you're best doing it yourself.

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