The gift of fresh water

As you probably know, we are Cool and Green at the Watermill. Our hidden array of photovoltaic cells, as well as reducing carbon dioxide emissions from conventional power stations, makes us self-sufficient in electricity, including the power for our comprehensive air-conditioning system, which keeps you cool during the summer months. And we are plastic-neutral (and you are, too, during your stay with us). We have a special water dispenser for all our drinking water and do not use plastic water bottles – and through our support of the Ocean Bottle charity, the Watermill every year prevents 40,000 plastic bottles from polluting our seas.

Because we are a Watermill in Tuscany, we like to support ‘watery’ charities, and we are delighted to announce our continued commitment to WellBoring, a British charity that installs new wells and rehabilitates broken ones in primary schools and communities in Kenya and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. This year, WellBoring celebrated the completion of its 400th well.

The Watermill’s first contribution was to sponsor the restoration and maintenance of a broken well at the St Leo’s RC Primary School in Kamolo, Kenya. There is a chronic water shortage in the Busia area of Western Kenya, where the school is located. Often, the conventional solution has been to dig new wells, but repairing or rehabilitating broken-down ones is proving to be a much more economically viable solution.

And that’s what happened in Kamolo. Working with WellBoring, the Watermill at Posara paid for the ‘rehabilitation’ of the school’s well. Here’s the restored well in operation:

Not only does the provision of a working well provide safe, clean water, but it also has deep implications for children’s education, particularly for girls. If there is no well in the village, people are forced to walk miles every day to find water for drinking and cooking. This task usually falls on women and young girls, who therefore miss out on their schooling.

We have just made another contribution for 2025 to support WellBoring’s life-changing work. In the words of Nigel Linacre, the charity’s founder: “Together, we have proved change is possible, one well at a time. We are restoring health, enabling education, and fostering community development. It’s a comprehensive transformation that starts with a simple, yet vital element: water.”

If you would like to help, too, you can learn more about WellBoring’s clean water initiatives.

And why not join us on one of our internationally renowned week-long residential courses and creative holidays in painting, creative writing, knitting, and Italian language immersion? As well as being Cool and Green, you’ll enjoy inspiring tuition, warm hospitality, delicious food and wine, stunning scenery in Tuscany, and the convivial company of like-minded people.