A BUSINESS from Old Sarum is celebrating the New Year after having helped to raise more than £1m for Christian Aid.

Since opening his business, Mike Oakes, owner of water cooler firm AquAid, of Castlegate Business Park, and other AquAid franchises across the UK have given the staggering sum to the charity that fights poverty in the Third World.

Mr Oakes said: "We are overjoyed to have donated such a huge sum of money to Christian Aid.

"To mark this amazing milestone Christian Aid invited representatives from AquAid to visit Burkina Faso, in West Africa, to see some of the projects the money has helped fund.

"AquAid representatives undertook a journey to Burkina Faso, a land-locked country in West Africa, about half the size of France, with a population of 12.2million."

Burkina Faso is the third poorest country in the world with more than 45 per cent of the population estimated to live in poverty and 85 per cent forced to live on less than £1 a day.

Mr Oakes said: "The trip demonstrated that our donations really do make a difference.

"The 40 pence we donate for every bottle of water sold soon mounts up and becomes a lifeline helping to provide thousands with fresh drinking water, sustaining livelihoods, healthcare and education.

"In Burkina Faso we have helped fund Christian Aid's five partner organisations, which carry out amazing work.

"One village we visited was called Pella. The area receives help from Christian Aid through its partner organisation ODE.

"Through our donations, we have helped ODE develop twelve boreholes in Pella, supplying the villagers with safe drinking water, and five literacy centres for those who have the time to learn.

"To see pictures of these new facilities made me feel very grateful to my customers for making my donations possible."

A village chief at Pella said: "We find it heart-warming that people from a country so far away, who do not know us and have never seen us, are willing to help us.

"From us all, a big thank you."

Mr Oakes continued: "These are decent people who have less than nothing, yet they accept it and still smile.

"My hope is that, with my customers' support, I can continue to help them," he said.