by Fern Shaw | Nov 5, 2024 | water cooler, Water Coolers
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the heart and soul of your organisation. It’s about understanding your impact on communities and the environment and taking proactive steps to meet or exceed ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations.
AquAid is committed to responsible business practices and inspiring others to make a difference. We believe that sharing responsibility is an integral part of daily work and that making a positive impact complements commercial success.
A core part of AquAid’s mission is providing sustainable solutions to poverty and emergency relief. Through partnerships with the AquAid-founded Africa Trust and our 25-year collaboration with Christian Aid, we’ve helped countless communities and you can too.
By choosing AquAid as your water cooler supplier, you’re not just getting a quality product and exceptional service; you’re also playing a vital role in bringing hope to those who need it most and breaking the cycle of poverty. As our founder, Paul Searle, once stated, “A great partnership involves business, charity, and community working together.”
When you involve your employees in this partnership, it doesn’t just inspire them but also fosters a sense of belonging within your company. It helps create a healthier working environment, boosts employee satisfaction, loyalty and develops a positive and sustainable social contribution policy. Your CSR decisions will also give your organisation a competitive edge and enhance your credibility.
Simply choosing AquAid as your water cooler supplier can make a significant impact on your company’s CSR efforts. By switching to AquAid, you’re making a difference that will last a lifetime.
To date, with the help of our partners, AquAid has donated over £22 million to charity, benefiting countless families and communities across Africa.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 30, 2024 | water cooler, Water Coolers
Contrary to popular opinion, the origins of observing Halloween aren’t American – but those of ancient Celts throughout Britain, Ireland and northern France.
With the Romans invading Britain around 43AD, it is believed that they added their rituals of the period with those of the Celtic traditions, one of these being the current Halloween tradition of ‘bobbing’ for apples. The Roman goddess of fruit and trees was known as Pomona – her symbol being that of the apple.
Moving forward a few decades brought the Christian observances, those closest to Halloween being All Hallows’ Day, also known as All Saints Day. All Hallows Day was originally celebrated on the 13th of May, however, it is believed that this was moved to 01 November, as an attempt to replace or assimilate the Celtic Samhain festival with a related but church approved celebration.
Whatever the observance, there’s no doubt that to many, Halloween is a wonderful, fun-filled acknowledgement of winter drawing close.
Throughout Britain Halloween has traditionally been celebrated by children’s games such as bobbing for apples in containers full of water, telling ghost stories and the carving of faces into hollowed-out vegetables such as swedes and turnips. Unlike the majority of Halloween traditions originating from Britain, it is in fact, the pumpkin as the carve vegetable of choice that has come from the United States. However this change occurred, it’s a prudent choice, as we imagine it’s far easier to carve a pumpkin than it is a swede or turnip.
However you choose to celebrate Halloween, we would suggest that you reserve the water from your water cooler to rather quench your thirst or to wash down all the Halloween ‘candy’, instead of filling up containers to bob for apples.
That said, here at AquAid, we wish you all a Happy Halloween and more treats than tricks.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 7, 2024 | water cooler, Water Coolers, water dispenser
World Teachers’ Day is dedicated to celebrating the invaluable contributions of teachers to our society. Their role extends far beyond the classroom – shaping minds, nurturing potential and inspiring generations to come.
Why are Teachers so Important?
Foundational Knowledge: Teachers are the architects of young minds. They impart essential knowledge, skills and values that form the foundation for a child’s future.
Nurturing Growth: Beyond academics, teachers create a supportive environment that fosters personal and social development. They encourage critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity.
Adapting to Change: In an ever-evolving world, teachers must continuously adapt their teaching methods to meet the needs of diverse learners and embrace new technologies.
Inspiration and Motivation: Teachers have the power to inspire students to reach their full potential. By fostering a love for learning and encouraging curiosity, they help students develop a lifelong passion for knowledge.
At AquAid we provide water dispensers to educational facilities from pre-schools, primary & high schools, academies through to colleges and universities across the UK. We hope you will join us as we express our appreciation and gratitude for everything that teachers do!
by Fern Shaw | Sep 19, 2024 | water cooler, Water Coolers
As a nation used to hard work, Britons may perceive that a bit of shuteye amounts to laziness or a way not to get work done properly, so the thought of power naps may seem a little disingenuous/counterintuitive.
Which is why it may come as a surprise that power naps are indeed a thing and if performed correctly, they can greatly benefit one’s well-being all while boosting flagging energy.
As we’ve learnt, drinking water = power (or energy) but who would’ve thought that short naps too = power.
Although power naps are commonplace in some cultures – Japanese workers take an afternoon nap known as ‘hirune’ – many companies worldwide such as Procter & Gamble, PwC and Nike, have made this part of their work culture too.
Are their health benefits to napping?
Regular naps are good for the long-term health of our brain, research shows.
Habitual napping may help keep our brains bigger for longer and boost its overall health, according to a 2023 study by researchers at University College London (UCL) and the University of the Republic in Uruguay.
There are also short-term health benefits associated with napping. Short naps lasting five to 15 minutes can immediately improve how well we perform mentally. This mental stimulus can last up to three hours after we wake up.*
How long should you nap for?
According to Kevin Morgan, professor of psychology and a sleep expert at the University of Loughborough in the UK, “Timing is key for the perfect power nap. If you are going to have a nap, make sure you do it in the mid-afternoon and don’t allow it to go on for longer than 20 minutes. Your body is going to be more accommodating of daytime sleep between 2pm and 4pm as this is when there is a dip in the circadian rhythm and our body temperature drops.”*
As always, water first.
Even if you don’t ascribe to taking a power nap while at work, always remember that drinking water throughout the day, taking a short break to refill your water bottle or water glass from your workplace water cooler, is a guaranteed way to boost flagging energy.
*source: from an article by Isabelle Gerretsen at the BBC
by Fern Shaw | Aug 12, 2024 | water cooler, Water Coolers
In honour of this year’s World Elephant Day, we thought it would be a good idea to highlight one of AquAid’s proudest affiliations – that of forming The Africa Trust – a charity whose CEO also designed an award-winning design water well, affectionally known as the Elephant Pump.
What is there to be proud about?
Design Awards
The Elephant Pump was awarded two prestigious awards in recognition of the pump’s technology, impact and reliability. The first was the World Bank Development Marketplace award for Water, Sanitation and Energy.
Next, the pump went on to win The St. Andrews Medal for the Environment, overcoming a record 260 entrants in the process.
Longevity
Based on a 2,000-year-old Chinese technique for lifting water, the Elephant Pump is inexpensive, simple to make and repair and made from locally available materials giving users a greater sense of ownership. Like the longevity of the elephant, of the 10,000 pumps installed, 95% are still in operation today – a figure 40% above the average for the continent.
Reach and Usage
To date, over 10,000 pumps have been built, servicing more than two million people in communities across Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Each pump can produce up to 10,000 litres of potable water per day, supplying upwards of three hundred people in the village or community – who are now able to collect clean drinking water and water for productive use every day.
If you are interested in finding out how the easy installation of a water cooler translates into the installation of a safe water resource for a community, speak to us at AquAid – we’ll be delighted to assist.
by Fern Shaw | Jul 29, 2024 | water cooler, Water Coolers
As a blogista, one would imagine that I love the internet or the worldwide web. You’d be right. It’s packed to capacity with the most incredible information and makes research interesting, amusing, at times alarming and can turn one into a sniffer dog that any contraband sniffing beagle would envy – (all those leads!)
Some time ago, I read one of what I call, Snopes-worthy-at-a-glance chain *shudder* mails. Recently, while researching, I came across another take on the ice-cold water debate, one I hadn’t heard of before.
The First Drinking Ice Water Theory I read is that if you are all hot and bothered and need to cool down, instead of chug-a-lugging litres of brain freezingly cold water, you should rather drink room temperature water (which is disingenuous, because what if your ‘room’ at the time is an Arctic wasteland? Hmf!). The reason for this is that your body works hard to regulate your ‘core’ temperature. Picture the scene:
You’ve just vaulted up two flights of stairs wearing your spencer and Ugg boots. You get to the landing, leopard crawl down the corridor, reach your water dispenser station, roll onto your back underneath the water cooler, open the tap, a steady stream of water from source pouring refreshingly down your gullet. Now your body is hot. The water is cold. So, whereas you are hydrating your body, which is what your body is asking for, your body now must work double time to ‘heat up’ the water to your core temperature, which is baaad.
Or so the chain mail said. I am, (of course), paraphrasing (a lot).
I think, for this next one, I don’t have to draw a scenario for you.
The Second Drinking Ice Water Theory is just plain funny – ha ha and peculiar. According to this zinger and I’m quoting, “Drinking Ice Water after a meal … will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. Once this ‘sludge’ reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food.”
Anyhow, so of the two, which is absolute Hogwarts (sorry!) hogwash and which, if any, of the two, have an element of truth in them?
I believe the answer to both is a ‘what’s good for you coupled with common sense’ thought process.
Personally I tend to believe the first theory – if our bodies are ‘normally’ at about 37C° and you’ve exerted yourself which means that your body temperature us higher; then with ice water being around 0C°, it would make sense that your body has to work harder to regulate the temperature of the cold water to, rather ironically, cool you down.
So, on this, I’d suggest that if you do decide to Rocky it up the stairs, dressed like Bradley Cooper in The Silver Linings Playbook, for reasons known only to you; by all means perch next to the water cooler, just don’t guzzle. Pour yourself a cup of cool water and drink it slowly.
As for the ‘sludge’ that ice water turns ‘the oily stuff’ into theory, I truly, for once, don’t have a comeback for this marvel of silly.
Keen on having chilled, cool, ambient temperature or even piping hot water available immediately? You need look no further than the UK’s leading water cooler supplier: AquAid. You’re welcome. Drink up!
