by Fern Shaw | Sep 5, 2022 | aquaid, Charity, Christian Aid, water cooler, Water Coolers
Today is the International Day of Charity. As an organisation, AquAid, with our focus on giving back since our inception in 1998, acknowledging this day is immensely significant.
For over twenty-two years, AquAid has donated a portion of revenue to charities, predominantly to both Christian Aid and The Africa Trust.
Founded in 1941, the mission of Christian Aid is to eradicate the causes of poverty, striving to achieve equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith or nationality. AquAid have supported Christian Aid for more than twenty years, donating over £3.7 million to water and capacity building projects around the world.
Since its formation in 2010, The Africa Trust has worked tirelessly to create sustainable solutions that include establishing supplies of clean, productive drinking water and decent sanitation to thousands of communities in water scarce regions across Africa. Wealth creation is another important objective, with business skills training helping school leavers and villagers to start or expand profitable businesses.
This year’s International Day of Charity resonates even more so with all of us at AquAid as the company has recently reached donations exceeding £19 million. This amount has enabled us to provide life-changing assistance to more than 3 million people around the globe and predominantly throughout Africa.
We would like to dedicate this achievement to Paul Searle, AquAid’s Founder, Managing Director and Chairman, whose faith and unquenchable spirit was the driving force that kept AquAid growing and expanding for over two decades, all while never losing sight of the importance of contributing to charity.
Should you too wish to partner with AquAid in this continuing commitment to charity while keeping your organisation hydrated, please contact us – we will be happy to assist.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 23, 2022 | water cooler, water dispenser
This is not, as one might deduce from the heading, a blog about drinking refreshing water from your water cooler, but rather about steps that you can take when you’re convinced that you’re about to have a meltdown rivalling that of Chernobyl.
- Close your eyes (preferably, not when you’re driving your lorry). Gently let the world disappear, and go within to regain your equilibrium. This makes sense as when one thinks of how much information one is exposed to every waking minute of the day – mobiles; TVs; iPads, iPhones; Social Media – it can be a blessed relief to switch off that constant input for a little while – and not just while one is sleeping. Consciously closing one’s eyes and drifting off can calm ones frayed nerves immensely.
- Go outside. This can be easier said than done, as we don’t all have the luxury of a village green, common or park near us, but you can try to find a safe(ish) open area with a bit of grass or a bench where you’re not jammed in cheek to jowl with other equally stressed human beings.
- Breathe deeply. Breathing is the foundation of sanity. It is the way we provide our brain and every other vital organ in our body with the oxygen needed for us to survive. Breathing also eliminates toxins from our systems. One of the simplest ways to calm the nerves is to stay still (sitting or standing) and breath in through the nose, mouth closed, deep into the stomach, and exhale, again, through the nose, mouth closed. Repeat 3x.
- Find some water. Whether it’s a local pond or a gentle babbling brook, being close to running water is very calming. On inclement days where you can’t really venture outside, take a shower and imagine (albeit briefly) that you’re on some tropical island underneath a waterfall.
- Drink water. When you’re overwrought, keep drinking it – a big glass of it once an hour. Walk beside some water, look at and listen to it. Get into some if you can, for a bath or a swim. Hot baths and hot springs are popular for good reasons.
Of course, AquAid being one of the UK’s top water cooler suppliers, to offices, workplaces and private residences, we don’t recommend using your water dispenser to mimic the wonderfully soothing sound of gently running water, but then … you knew that.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 18, 2022 | mains fed water cooler, water cooler
It’s summer. It’s holiday time. However, for those of us left to sweat it out in the office – cramps, headaches, sore muscles and wish-I-was-on-holiday blues are at an all-time high.
Here are a few tips to keep you moving and grooving and in tip-top work able shape:
Relax those shoulders. Office workers, teachers prepping lessons, site work cost efficiency forecasts – we’ve all been there. Glued to your chair, deadlines looming, shoulders tensed, making you look more like of close relation of Gru’s than you care to think. Solution? Check your body posture every twenty minutes or so. If you’ve hunched over, simply relax your shoulders. Repeat until you learn to automatically check your desk posture while seated.
Stretch out the kinks. The simplest stretches can help reduce aches, stiffness and tension, decrease muscle spasm. The benefit is stretching can be performed while seated or standing, although standing will have a more overall body benefit.
Walk! As simple as that. Stand up, stretch out and perambulate around your work place. The ideal keep fit combo is walking to replenish your water bottle or water glass at your water cooler station.
Add water to all the above. Make sure that you drink water throughout the day and after every relaxation technique and stretch.
Remember though, whether your office / workplace is icier than the Northern Sea because of the aircon. working more overtime than you do or its au naturel baking hot, both mean you can dehydrate quickly, so make sure that you increase your water intake to stave off dehydration and compensate the amount of energy expended while exercising.
Don’t have a water cooler? There is an easy solution. Contact AquAid’s experienced and professional in-house agents. We offer a free on-site survey to assess your water dispenser requirements and whether you are best served installing bottled or mainsfed water coolers.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 2, 2022 | water cooler, water cooler, water dispenser
With our lives now predominately online (often whether we like it or not) and our virtual conduct changing from day to day, it can be tricky negotiating one’s conduct in the physical realm. Added to this is with so many of us having worked remotely for such a long period, returning to work in the office or school can be a little challenging.
Change is good. Of course it is. There’s no progress or movement without change. Certain things though, don’t change. That’s also good. All said it’s good to know that in the physical realm thankfully some things never change.
How you approach the office water cooler station happens to be one of those things that hasn’t changed. Perhaps the banter has (massively, for obvious reasons) and very likely you’re using an AquAid touch-free water dispenser, but overall, as you head out to hydrate, water cooler station etiquette remains as it was.
Should you be feeling a little out of touch (no, not the same as a no-touch water cooler) here are a few helpful pointers:
- Don’t block access while you’re catching up with colleagues.
- Don’t use your water cooler to wash your containers/mug, water glass, or bottle!
- Keep your interaction light and impersonal. It may be important to you, but most likely hearing about your Aunt Violet’s verruca removal isn’t really what a workmate had in mind.
- Do confab about work. There are countless studies that prove exchanging ideas and comparing notes away from your office, workspace or desk often results in a good outcome.
- Keep the area tidy, help replace the bottled water if you can and if you note the bottle water supply is uncommonly low, make sure to alert your bottled water supplier. It may help to know that at AquAid, we have 23 local depots, meaning replacing your bottled water is quick and efficient.
by Fern Shaw | Jul 15, 2022 | bottle fed water coolers, water cooler, Water Coolers
With temperatures set to soar, here at AquAid Water Coolers we have compiled a set of tips & tricks to help you keep cool and hydrated wherever you are:
At the office/in the workplace:
- Stay hydrated! Set an alarm clock on your pc, laptop or mobile to make sure that you visit the water cooler as often as needs be to replenish your drinking water.
- For spaces without aircon, see if you can create a cross breeze – open windows (but keep blinds partially closed) on both sides or open a door on the opposite side of the area.
- Drink cool (but not icy cold) liquids to help lower your body temperature. The water cooler station is perfect for this.
- Turn off electronics: If they’re not being used, unplug electronic devices to keep them from generating unnecessary heat.
At home:
- Fill up a hot water bottle with tap water, place in the freezer and you have a multi-purpose ice pack.
- Stay hydrated! Kids may not feel thirsty, but it’s essential to stay hydrated, so make sure young ones are getting lots of water. If you’re planning to leave the house, freeze your reusable water bottles and take them with you.
- Drink cool (but not icy cold) liquids to help lower your body temperature.
- Turn off electronics: If they’re not being used, unplug electronic devices to keep them from generating unnecessary heat.
- Don’t cook: Make yourself that Niçoise or Greek Salad or eat no need to heat food. Not only will this cool the body’s core, it will also keep cooking-related heat from filling up the house.
Out-and-about or indoors:
- Avoid the heat: stay out of the sun and if possible don’t go out between 10h00 and 16h00 (the hottest part of the day) if you’re vulnerable to the effects of heat.
- Have cool or at least room temperature baths or showers.
- Drink cold drinks regularly, such as water and fruit juice. Reduce high-caffeine drinks intake.
- Stay tuned to the weather forecast on the radio or TV, or at the Met Office website.
- Apply sunblock and wear loose, cool clothing and a hat if you go outdoors.
- Try wearing open shoes, sandals or flip-flops, however, if your skin is exposed, apply sunblock, Factor 30 at minimum.
- Check up on friends, relatives and neighbours who may be less able to look after themselves.
It’s also good to bear in mind that wherever you require a temporary or permanent hydration solution in the UK, AquAid have a wide range of water coolers tailor-made to meet your requirements. We even offer a next day water delivery service for our Bottle-Fed Water Coolers.
Contact us today.
by Fern Shaw | Jul 13, 2022 | water cooler, Water Coolers
In spring 2002, three university mates clubbed together to launch their own recruitment agency focussed on the construction industry. Optima Site Solutions was born.
Having worked hard to build up their enterprise, they got through the global financial crisis and more recently Brexit, which has affected labour supply, and COVID, which gave a temporary shake up to the internal organisation. Proving time-and-time again that theirs is a sustainable and progressive business.
Optima now has more than 35 employees and supplies thousands of contractors to hundreds of clients each year; making it one of the largest recruitment agencies for construction in the UK. The company’s success has been built on years of effective trade and sticking to its core values of candidate quality, being transparent and best service for all.
Optima is well aware of the importance of their employees maintaining good hydration habits, consequently they installed AquAid bottled water coolers in their Head Office in 2008. Not only has this led to their organisation having constant supply of refreshing drinking water, it has also meant automatic donations to the charities they support through AquAid with each bottle of water delivered.
This partnership has also led to a water well, known as an Elephant Pump, to be built in a water scarce region in Zimbabwe on their behalf. This pump, constructed using locally available materials, has a capacity to supply up to 10,000 litres of potable water per day, and due to its award winning design will do so for decades.
AquAid look forward to being able to present the Optima Site Solutions team with a certificate, a photo of the pump and a letter of thanks for their participation in this life-changing build in due course.
You can read more about Optima Site Solutions here.
