Organisers of a special event to celebrate a charity’s 35th anniversary know they will be holding back The Flood of excitement if their appeals for Take That star Gary Barlow to attend their Greatest Day are successful.
Northumbrian Water is organising the special celebration, to mark 35 years of its charity partner, WaterAid UK, at Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, on Thursday, July 21. Now they are hoping to make it a Take That And Party occasion, if the star tells them: “I Can Make It!”
Communities in Madagascar, just one of 37 countries where WaterAid supports improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene, have lent their support, recording videos urging the former X Factor judge to attend the event.
WaterAid works to ease the problems of, and support, the 650 million people who live without safe water, the 2.3 billion people – that’s a third of the world’s population – who don’t have access to adequate sanitation, and the 315,000 children under the age of five who die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation.
Around 200 people are set to attend the celebrations, in the Castle’s Chapel, to mark WaterAid’s achievements, which include:
• Delivering safe water to 23 million people
• Toilets for 21 million people
• Hygiene promotion delivered to 12 million people
There are currently 100 tickets available to the public for the event, priced at £35 each. For details, e-mail wateraid@nwl.co.uk.
Some members of Young Sinfonia will perform at the event.
Andrew Blakemore, chairman of the Northumbrian WaterAid committee, said: “We are really hoping Gary Barlow picks up on our social media requests and e-mails, inviting him to come along. From Meadowfield to Madagascar, people are urging him to come to Auckland Castle, and we really appreciate all the support we have had so far.
“’It Only Takes A Minute‘ to help us, by Tweeting @GaryBarlow and asking him to join us in celebrating the fantastic achievements of WaterAid since it was founded in 1981. Auckland Castle is a wonderful setting and the acoustics in the Chapel are outstanding.
“More than 20 million people have WaterAid to thank for their safe water and improved hygiene that will help them to live longer, healthier lives. Everybody involved deserves a huge thank you and we can’t think of a more deserving group of people to receive the appreciation of Gary Barlow on this special night.”