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09 January 2013

Twin every church loo, says London minister

Visitors using the loos at Alliance member church All Souls, Langham Place, will be greeted by an unusual sight: photographs of overseas latrines.  

The church, which attracts an international congregation and averages 3,000 visitors a week, has twinned all 14 of its loos through Toilet Twinning.  Each toilet now has a framed certificate showing a photo of the twinned latrine, with its exact GPS co-ordinates.

The church's generous gesture will enable Toilet Twinning, a partnership between development agenciesCord and Tearfund, to help some of the 2.5 billion people worldwide who lack decent sanitation.   

Anna Bishop, associate minister at All Souls, said the certificates remind her of the privileges we enjoy: "God commands us to care for the poor and so we are delighted that Toilet Twinning have enabled us to twin our toilets and provide loos for families from Cambodia to Congo."

She added: "Amazingly in these hard economic times, giving to our World Mission Fund has significantly increased."

Toilet Twinning's general manager, Lorraine Kingsley, said she is thrilled such a prominent church as All Souls has twinned its toilets.  'We know many people choose to make a donation to Toilet Twinning after seeing a certificate somewhere else.  We are hopeful other leading churches, as well as individuals, will follow All Souls' example and twin their loos."

Anna agreed, suggesting: "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could twin every loo in every church in the UK?"

The money raised through Toilet Twinning is used to support community hygiene promotion and improve access to clean water and safe sanitation.

Poor sanitation causes more than bad smells and embarrassment; it is one of the world's biggest killers, hitting women, children, the elderly and sick people hardest. Every 20 seconds a child dies from diarrhoeal diseases and 60 per cent of all rural diseases are caused by poor hygiene and sanitation.

To find out more about Toilet Twinning or to twin your own loo visit www.toilettwinning.org