by Rachael Woods

A Sittingbourne man is going to India to help supply clean drinking water to the country’s poorest communities.

Southern Water project manager, Mike Tomlinson, 55, will leave the security of his Brier Road home to visit slums and remote villages in the Madhya Pradesh region of the country.

The father-of-three, who works in Chatham, will travel fly out on February 16, with representatives of WaterAid, the international development charity that he has supported for more than 20 years.

Mike will meet with communities to find out the difficulties they face without safe water and sanitation, and learn how money raised by Southern Water employees is helping to transform their lives.

It is the second time Mike has seen WaterAid’s work overseas, as in 1997 he visited Uganda with the charity.

He said: “That first trip had a profound effect on me and I have continued to support the charity ever since. Even though it was 16 years ago, it feels like it was yesterday.

“I was able to see first-hand the benefit that WaterAid’s work was having and it will be interesting to see that in India too, although I know that emotionally it will be quite challenging.

“It’s easy for us here to take clean water for granted, but when you learn that, around the world, there are 2,000 children dying every day simply because they lack safe water and sanitation, it makes you think again.”

Mike added: “I’m looking forward to seeing the positive effect the charity is having on those communities and hearing the stories the people will tell me about how it has changed their lives.”

In 2007, Mike received the WaterAid President’s Award for his services to the charity.