Anyway, it’s proven extremely handy already and makes regular appearances while my partner is having a night of television in bed. Who says romance is dead, her watching EastEnders and me tying up a load of 360s! The storage space is created by a multitude of Aquabox elements, which can be combined to form plants of any size. The advantage of this method is that with this infiltration system, the cavity volume is up to 3 times larger than gravel ditch and thus space and excavation can be saved.

All of this has been funded almost entirely by donations, notably donations from Rotary clubs across the British Isles.”All our aid costs a significant amount to supply and distribute across the world and all our income is contingent upon the generosity of donors. Paul Hubbard is Chairman of AVK UK: ‘AVK UK takes its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) responsibilities very seriously. Before linking up with Aquabox, I met with their representatives and quizzed them on their financial stability and their plans for the future. I was impressed with their drive to double the number of filters and aid boxes they ship each year, and the way they partner with aid agencies in disaster areas to ensure the filters are deployed effectively. Water is fundamental to life and ensuring its safe and effective distribution across the UK is at the heart of what we do at AVK UK. I am confident that our AVK-Aquabox Ambassadors will help Aquabox meet its targets and improve its systems and processes. It’s a really worthwhile and inspiring charity.’ I have the next biggest Staxx as well, the 15-litre, which lives in the boot of my car and is home to all my spares, such as gas, finger stall, a set of clean pants, toilet roll, batteries and leads. John Griffith helped to set up a filter assembly operation at Aquabox’s Wirksworth depot, and teams of volunteers were recruited and trained to assemble and test the new filters. It is humbling to witness the efforts local people are prepared to go to, to ensure those in need get the aid they require.

I first saw these at The Big One earlier this year and, while my initial assessment was probably similar to most people’s, they have actually proved to be more than ‘just green plastic boxes’.It was in 1991 when two members of Wirksworth Rotary Club, Mike Hoole and Peter Hare, came up with a way to improve on the club’s charitable work. Over time the original design has been refined and improved – currently the teams are assembling the Mk3 version – and in 2016 the charity was honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a charity can receive. Aquabox is an underground plastic module in which water is collected and stored. The aim of this system is to collect the rainwater temporarily and release it with a time delay into the sewage infrastructure, preventing flooding in urban areas. Next up, the range contains a 15l box (L: 400mm x W: 300mm x H: 186mm). In the image, you’ll see that this is the ideal box for the storage of all your bait making equipment, as well as any glugs, pop-up pots, or jars of particles. However, it would also be the ideal storage for all your cooking equipment or even your spare reel and rig pouch.

We managed to send shipments to both Yemen and Syria, as well as a further shipment to Nepal,” said Roger Cassidy, chair of trustees. Aquabox is a Derbyshire-based charity. Since 1992, Aquabox has supplied AquaFilters into disaster areas. AquaFilters enable those affected to transform potentially contaminated water from streams and wells into safe drinking water. For many, this safe drinking water is fundamental to their survival, as well as reducing the incidence of water-borne diseases such as cholera. Aquabox system has been engineered for efficient stormwater retention and is suitable for different applications such as infiltration, retention, or attenuation systems. It was designed for fast installation, fully inspectable and suitable for both landscape and traffic areas, following the standard parameters of Sustainable Drainage Systems. Central to AVK UK’s support for Aquabox is the sponsorship of five AVK UK employees – AVK-Aquabox Ambassadors - to work alongside Aquabox volunteers. The AVK UK team will work on a variety of initiatives such as improving logistics, assembly processes, and marketing. AVK UK has also committed to providing direct financial support and fundraising throughout the year.Earlier this year, Aquabox distributed 160 Aquaboxes to a refugee camp in Syria through their partner Hand in Hand for Aid (HiHAD). Who knew that boxes like these could be of so much use? Well, they have been, and I wouldn’t be without mine now. All of this has been funded almost entirely by donations, notably donations from Rotary clubs across the British Isles. There is no way of knowing how many lives have been saved by Aquabox’s intervention, but it must be a huge number. Aid was also sent to conflict zones like Kosovo, Croatia and Serbia, supporting families caught up in the Balkan wars.

Then in 2010, Aquabox was approached by John Griffith, who had developed a simple ultra-filtration hand pump to convert polluted water into clean, safe water for drinking, for cooking and for washing. This was a giant leap forward: instead of using a carbon filter and chlorine tablets to provide safe drinking water for a few months, the new pump could process thousands of litres of water – and it could go on working for years. We provide two solutions, depending on the local need. The first is the Aquabox family filter, capable of filtering water at the rate of one litre per minute, and designed to meet the needs of a typical family group. The second is a community filter – exactly the same technology, but scaled up to process up to six litres per minute, and designed for schools, clinics and community centres. The ultra-filtration core filters down to 0.02 of a micron (a micron is one thousandth of a millimetre) – and that’s smaller than the smallest known water-borne disease pathogen, so nothing gets through. Building and houses were destroyed or damaged, and 11 people died with a further 30+ declared missing.In these circumstances, people have no choice but to collect water from available local sources, such as streams, rivers and wells. Such water is often contaminated and unsafe to drink. Water-borne diseases such as cholera will spread rapidly, and will affect particularly the more vulnerable young and older members of a community. So how does Aquabox meet the challenge of providing safe drinking water during times of crisis? Wirksworth Rotary Club members were already contributing to an emergency box scheme initiated by the Rotary Club of Denton, helping to fill wooden boxes of humanitarian aid which were sent to disaster areas around the world. The Aquabox family filter, designed to meet the needs of an average family, went into production in 2011.