Stand Up: Hands 4 Others

I met Arabella Hamilton and Hannah Daffern for coffee in the Rector’s Café last week to find out more about the St Andrews chapter of the charity Hands 4 Others (commonly abbreviated to H4O), which they set up themselves at the end of last year after getting a taste of what it was like to run big charity events as members of the Bongo Ball committee.

Why H4O? Hannah first heard about H4O, a charity that aims to fund sustainable water systems for villages in developing countries, when she was at high school in the U.S., and although she always wanted to be a part of her school’s chapter, she never got the opportunity to join it. The girls like the fact that despite being a fairly big charity, H4O “has a small community feel to it”, and recommend the benefits of maintaining direct contact with the Project Director, Casey O’Toole, whose youth means he is “up for anything” in terms of their ideas, and who never delays in sending them anything they need, including t-shirts and bracelets.

Last Thursday (the night before our rendezvous), H4O hosted their launch party at the Rule, which promised guests “a night full of great music and cheap drinks all for a good cause.” Arabella acknowledged the night’s success, “It went really well. People were coming up to me all night saying “It’s actually really good.” We’ve had lots of texts today congratulating us on organising such a good night and I think the venue reached its 300 person capacity.” Masterchef finalist Scott Davies, who now works at The Adamson, even showed his face at the girls’ party, offering to tweet about it the next day, to which Hannah excitedly gushed, “That would be amazing!” I later found out from Hannah that they managed to raise £712, a significant contribution to their $10,000 goal, which will enable them to fund a water well for an entire village.

Although Hannah’s main reason for setting up the chapter was to raise money for an important cause, she also wanted to form a “fun group of girls” with similar interests and enthusiastic spirits. “We often have socials, pre-drink together, and had a dinner at Bibi’s after returning from Christmas vacation. All of my girls are awesome and dedicated.” They have a core committee made up of second year students with proper positions such as head of marketing, sponsorship, events and social, and have recently extended the group to include fresher representatives; Hannah considering it important to recruit girls from younger years to ensure her “baby’s” survival once they’ve left.

The girls are selling water bottles labelled with the H4O logo at their stand at Rugby 7s, as well as wristbands and the remainder of their festive fabric hair ties, so be sure to take full advantage of their merchandise while sipping Pimm’s on the pitch’s sidelines (and cheering on the rugby boys, of course!) in support of solving the world’s water crisis.

If you want to find out more about the H40 charity check out the official website or the St Andrews H40 Facebook page.