Less than an hour from where I’m writing, the issue of water poverty has become a reality for the people of the West country. Overwhelmed by flooding, the infrastructure that provides communities in South Gloucestershire with access to clean, safe, drinking water has collapsed. What is a massive ongoing global issue affecting nearly 2 billion people in developing countries has suddenly become headline news because it is now on our doorstep affecting a few thousand.

Please don’t misread me, my heart goes out to the people of South Gloucestershire, I have real empathy for them. I’m simply asking that this be a reality-check to those of us here in the UK, who ordinarily have access to the health and wealth-giving element that is clean, safe drinking water. That once the flooding here is over, and water supplies restored, we give greater attention to those who don’t have what we take for granted.

On the same subject, my friend Katie Alcott, founder of the ethically-led bottled water company, FRANK Water, has donated 1000 litres of its bottled water to ease the situation in Gloucester. The water was stockpiled ready for the festival season here in the West Country, but given the emergency in Gloucester, Katie decided this was a more appropriate use of a product that is usually sold to fund drinking water projects in India and Africa.