Mum Gillian Sanders will be heading to Uganda on Saturday to experience what life is like without clean water and toilets.

The 46-year-old, of Katherine Park, Corsham, will be embarking on the week-long trip to see first-hand how families in the country try and survive.

After going through an interview process she was chosen to represent Wessex Water, for whom she works as a planning engineer in Bath, with fundraisers from 13 other water companies as part of World Toilet Day on November 19.

Whilst out in the Amuria District of Uganda, Mrs Sanders will visit families in remote villages and rural towns who don’t have access to water.

“Without water we are nothing” Mrs Sanders said. “Clean water and toilets are things we take for granted here in the UK, but for some people they’re a luxury.

“It will be a humbling experience to see what people have to do during their everyday life that we take for granted.”

WaterAid estimates that Uganda has a population of almost 35 million but only 37 per cent of the population has adequate sanitation. Around 12,000 children under five die every year, as a result of diseases such as cholera and typhoid due to contaminated drinking water sources and poor sanitation.

The charity will be demonstrating how lives are transformed through water, sanitation and hygiene projects, which Mrs Sanders has already helped fundraise for.

She added: “WaterAid’s projects bring so much more than just safe water and toilets. Access to basic facilities improves health, enables children to stay in education and frees-up time for people to start earning a living.

“This trip is a chance for me to see all of this for myself. I hope to use my experiences to inspire even more people to get involved.”

She will blog during her trip at gillianinuganda.blogspot.co.uk