Derbyshire charity Aquabox has sent thousands of lifesaving water filters to some of the poorest people in the world. After helping put together hundreds of kits themselves, volunteers David and Tina Rawson flew out to the Gambia to help families use their new gifts. Chris Jones reports.

IN the heat and the dirt, a family of 10 were treated to their first-ever Christmas Day celebration.

Yes, it was a few weeks early and no, there was no snow to be seen but for the first time in their lives, they were given gifts – a boxful of presents, which were theirs to enjoy.

A few weeks earlier, after devastating rains, this family – living in Ibo Town, in the Gambia, western Africa – had been victims of a flash flood which coursed through their home, destroying their possessions.

Now an English couple, 75-year-old David Rawson and his wife Tina, were sitting with them, pulling gift after gift out of a large box and handing them over.

The box was an Aquabox which, like David and Tina, had travelled nearly 3,000 miles from Derbyshire to be here. It was one of thousands sent out by the Wirksworth charity from which it takes its name to help improve the lives of people struggling with poverty and disease across the globe.

In this town, the floods had destroyed dozens of homes and swept away almost everything this family owned.

Tina, 67, said: "Before we gave them the Aquabox, the mother of the family took me into her house. The floors and the walls were filthy and bare; there was nothing in them.

"The water had demolished so much; all the furniture. The only thing she had, the only thing she could show me, was a small sewing machine."

Tina said it was heartbreaking to see but it also explained why, when giving out the dozens of pieces of life-saving equipment stored in every Aquabox, one item in particular got a big smile.

Tina said: "It was the needles and thread. They're in every Aquabox but when I gave them to her she recognised what they were straight away; she could use her sewing machine again.

"She smiled and her whole face lit up. It showed me that these things, which would mean so little to so many people in our country, could make someone in need entirely happy."

During a two-week trip – the retired Bakewell couple's third visit – they called at villages and towns throughout the Gambia, meeting dozens of families who were in line to benefit from an Aquabox and revisiting some of those who had been sent one in the past.

They stayed in a hotel and each day were taken out to the stricken villages and townships by guides from the local charities and organisations which work with Aquabox to distribute the boxes.

On this trip, they were accompanied by a UK film crew, who were recording their work for a short promotional film aimed at raising awareness of the charity.

This year, the organisation which was set up in the 1990s, has sent out 1,400 kits, which have gone to Africa, Pakistan and the Philippines.

The boxes are constructed and packed by a dedicated team of volunteers at the charity's headquarters in Wirksworth.

In the freezing, cavernous warehouse where the kits are assembled, I met with Tina and David, who had arrived home from their African trip the day previously.

During our conversation in an upstairs office, Tina offered to show me what went into every Aquabox. We walked back downstairs and into a huge area lined with towering shelves and with a large table in its centre. Tina walked along the shelves, pointing out the objects to me, which are arranged in the order they are packed in the box.

"The first difficult thing is how you are going to get all these different things into a single box, so efficient packing is vital," she said.

The items, in their dozens, are arranged into different groups. There are hygiene essentials: toothbrushes, soaps and bandages. There are kitchen tools: cups, bowls and pans. There is equipment for survival: tarpaulin sheets, trowels and screwdrivers.

"And," said Tina, drawing close to one particular shelf, "there are toys. In Wirksworth there are some lovely old ladies and they are excellent knitters.

"They make all these woollen teddy bears," she said, handing me one of the cute creatures.

"While we were out in Africa, we gave out the toys to the children. So many had never seen them before. We had skimmers; frisbee things. They loved them and spent ages throwing them to each other. It makes such a difference to them, these little things."

As useful and fun, and potentially life-saving, as many of the objects in the Aquabox are, it is the water pump each one contains which really makes the difference.

These can clean and purify a water supply to provide for a family of 25. With 1,400 Aquaboxes going abroad last year alone, a huge number of people will now be drinking clean water every day.

This, says David, is so important because the alternative is often fatal.

He said: "In each of the areas we went this year, we found families drinking from holes in the ground.

"The water in them looked clean but when the floods come, as they do each year, all the dirt and waste flows straight into the water holes. They are full of diseases."

He said the Aquabox filters could screw on to the side of any large water container. Anyone can then pump the handle, drawing water through the filter and giving them a clean supply.

David said: "In one village, there were enough Aquabox filters fitted for 500 people to use.

"We went there this time and fixed those that were broken but once people there know how to use them, they will keep using them."

Although it was far from a traditional holiday, Tina has not ruled out further visits to such areas.

She said: "When you are over there, people look at the Aquaboxes and wonder what they are. When you show them they say, well that's brilliant. But they then say 'that's just the surface. There are so many other problems here'.

"And they are right. But we have our objectives and we want to help Aquabox all we can. And if you have clean water, you have life."