Fix a well

This gift pays for the ‘hole’ shebang – the labour, tools and training to maintain or fix a well, meaning clean water for the whole community.

£22.00

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About this item

You couldn’t wish for a more welcome gift for a village than a working well. And this one pays for the ‘hole’ shebang – the labour, tools and training to maintain a well or water point, or fix a fractured supply. The result is clean, fresh water for the whole community. Magic.

You can choose an alternative occasion image for the front cover image of your gift card at checkout.

This gift supports our water & sanitation (WS) projects.

Delivery & returns

All gifts are sent by 1st class post within 3 working days of when you place your order. An optional delivery contribution of £1.70 per order for deliveries within the UK will be suggested during checkout, to help us cover costs. You can pay the suggested amount, increase or decrease your contribution, or pay nothing at all. You choose.

If you're in a hurry you can also send a gift E-card, at no extra cost, which will be sent as soon as you place your order.

Please note that Oxfam Unwrapped gifts count as a donation, so our no quibble returns policy does not apply, and under Charity Commission rules, we are unable to give you a refund.

You can find out more about delivery and returns in our help section.

Giving this gift

When you buy an Oxfam Unwrapped gift you can be confident that the real gift will be sent to where it's needed most.

We will send you (or your friend or family member if you prefer) a gift card that tells them what they've been bought and how it will help to improve someone's life. You can add little extras during checkout, which are posted at the same time.

You'll be given the opportunity to customise your gift card or E-card during checkout and specify your delivery details.

This gift in action

Flooding is a constant threat to communities on low-lying coastal areas such as Batticola in Sri Lanka. Once sea water enters a well it becomes unusable, threatening every families’ water supply, and it’s a problem that can take weeks to rectify. It's a process that has to be done two or three times in badly contaminated wells like Thangamma’s. The water is pumped out, walls of the well scrubbed and the surrounding area cleaned. The well is then left for seven days. The well refills itself so the process is repeated twice more. Chlorine is also used. This hard and dirty work is undertaken by dedicated Oxfam-trained teams, and we pay their salaries and provide the ladders, pumps and transport to get them between the wells. Ravlanithiran is an Oxfam team member: “When we finish a well and we’re sure it's clean we test it and then drink from it ourselves. People have watched us work on the wells and if we drink the water they know it's safe and that we've done the job well. “It's a difficult job but people are really happy and thankful that we're doing it, which makes it worthwhile. A clean well gives someone another reason to return to their home.”