#2 The Washing Machine Project

April 2021

Wow - what a month that was! After a year of planning, persistence and precision, we finally launched our 3-year fundraising partnership with Electrocomponents, enabling The Washing Machine Project to distribute 7,500 washing machines and positively impact 100,000 people in ten countries. This has all been made possible through The TWMP Foundation, a grant-giving charity that supports innovative projects that help people and the planet. I just wanted to use this moment to thank everyone who has got us this far – it means the world, and we won't let you down.

On the back of the announcement earlier this month, we have been picked up by BBC News and La Repubblica, as well as multiple radio interviews and TV appearances. While the media coverage has been excellent, it has also been jam-packed juggling the day-to-day running The Washing Machine Project and managing all the requests that are coming in. I have the privilege of working with incredibly dedicated volunteers who believe in our mission and work tirelessly towards it. These are everyday people with families and day jobs that want to make the world a better place. For all their efforts, I want to say thank you. The Washing Machine Project would not be possible without them.

We have also been awarded a Catalyst Grant from the Roddenberry Foundation for $11,000 to conduct a pilot in Jordan with Plan International. This will give us the necessary funding to enable The Washing Machine Project to obtain much-needed feedback on how beneficiaries use our product.

Another good news worth mentioning is that The Washing Machine Project has been selected for the Santander X Entrepreneurship Awards 2021. We're very honoured to represent the University of Bath on this programme, which offers us bespoke help to grow and scale our business. This ultimately culminates in a national pitching event with a top prize of £75,000 at Wembley Arena (yet to be confirmed).

All in all, it's been a really successful month at The Washing Machine Project, but not without its personal and professional challenges. Starting your own thing is not easy, and often you only read the good stuff that comes out. But there are pressing challenges that we are trying to overcome with our design of Divya 1.5. The manufacturing involved creating this product and finally rolling these machines out into Iraqi Refugee camps in August in a dignified, sustainable and equitable manner. Because at the end of the day everyone deserves the dignity of clean clothes.