To donate a water well with Humanity First UK, choose to restore an existing borehole for £750 or fund a brand new one for £2,000 on our Water for Life page, then enter the name you would like on the plaque at checkout. We survey, drill and build the well, install the plaque, and send you a completion report with photographs, the GPS coordinates of the pump and the number of people it serves.
A single water well provides clean, safe water to between 500 and 1,000 people a day and keeps flowing for a decade or more. Every new well we fund is a deep borehole, drilled far below the surface to reach clean groundwater, so it lasts far longer and stays safer than a traditional hand-dug well. Yet many donors are unsure how the process actually works: where the money goes, who builds the well, and how you know it was really built.
This guide walks through the whole journey, from the moment you donate to the day you receive photographs of your finished well, and covers the different ways you can support our work.
Who are Humanity First UK?
Humanity First UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (charity number 1188494), based in Chessington. We are part of Humanity First, founded in 1995, which restructured in 2018 into two closely linked sister charities. Humanity First UK is the operational arm, responsible for fundraising in the UK and the direct management of long-term programmes overseas. Our teams have installed more than 6,000 water wells across 30 countries, bringing clean water to over 7 million people, and alongside the Water for Life programme we deliver disaster relief, healthcare and education projects.
Because we are registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, UK taxpayers can add Gift Aid to their donation, which increases its value by 25% at no extra cost. Donors from anywhere in the world can donate online, and many supporters give from overseas because they want their donation to fund work delivered directly by our field teams.
How much does it cost to donate a water well?
There are options for most budgets: £750 restores an existing borehole, £2,000 funds a brand new well, and custom or solar-powered schemes run from £3,000 to £5,000. If a full well is beyond your budget, a donation of any size goes to our water fund, which supports clean water where the need is greatest.
For a full breakdown of what each tier covers and why costs vary, see our guide to how much it costs to donate a water well.
Why donate your water well with Humanity First UK
Every new well we build is a deep borehole, drilled to between 50 and 110 metres to reach a clean aquifer protected from surface contamination, and overseen by a qualified hydrogeologist. That is the deep-drilled build that keeps water flowing for a decade or more, and with Humanity First UK it costs £2,000, complete with a named plaque and a full completion report.
You can also see exactly what your donation built. Each well carries a unique reference from the day it is logged, and once it is inaugurated you receive photographs, the GPS coordinates of the pump and the number of people it serves. Humanity First UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1188494), regulated by the Charity Commission and registered with the Fundraising Regulator, and you can see where donations go in our annual reports.
What happens after you donate a water well?
This is the part most donors never see explained, so here is the exact journey your donation takes.
1. Your well joins the queue
Every new well is logged in our central database and assigned to the next country batch, so your donation is allocated to a specific build.
2. Your well is given a unique reference
Each well receives a unique ID recording its destination country and year of construction. This means your well can be traced from the first survey to the final handover.
3. The well is surveyed, drilled and built
Our wells are drilled using professional rotary rigs and cased with high-grade PVC or galvanised steel. Every installation is overseen by a qualified hydrogeologist, and each is a deep borehole reaching an aquifer between 50 and 110 metres down, where the groundwater is clean year-round and unaffected by surface contamination.
4. The well is inaugurated with your plaque
Once a batch is complete, every well is formally inaugurated and a permanent plaque is installed at the site. The plaque carries the inscription you chose at checkout, whether that is your own name, a family name, or a dedication to a loved one.
5. You receive your completion report
You are sent photographs of the finished well and its plaque, the exact GPS coordinates of the pump, and the estimated number of people the well will serve. From donation to a finished, inaugurated well typically takes 6 to 9 months, depending on location, ground conditions and access.
Fund a new deep borehole for £2,000 or restore a well for £750, each with a named plaque and a full completion report.
Can you donate a water well in someone’s name?
Yes, and it is one of the most popular reasons people give. The name or names you enter at checkout appear on the permanent plaque at the well site. Many of our donors dedicate a well in memory of a parent or grandparent, to celebrate a wedding or a new baby, or simply in a loved one’s name. Long after the occasion has passed, the well continues to serve its community every day.
For more on remembering someone this way, see our guide to donating a water well in memory of a loved one.
If you would like to visit the well you funded, contact us after you receive your completion report and we will do our best to arrange it through our field team.
Why does clean water matter so much?
Worldwide, 2.2 billion people still lacked safely managed drinking water in 2022, and around 400 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack even a basic drinking water service, according to the WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme. Women and girls in affected communities can walk for hours each day to collect water from rivers and ponds contaminated with disease-causing bacteria. The World Health Organization estimates that about a million people die each year from diarrhoea linked to unsafe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, and that the deaths of 395,000 children under five could be avoided each year if those risks were addressed. As the WHO puts it: “Improved water supply and sanitation, and better management of water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction.”
One well changes that. Children return to school, families regain their health, and the community gains back hours of every day. It is why Water for Life has been a flagship Humanity First programme for over two decades.
How to donate to Humanity First UK
Whether you want to fund a well or support our wider work, there are several ways to give.
Donate a water well. Restore a well for £750 or fund a new borehole for £2,000, complete with a named plaque and full completion report.
Make a general donation. Our donate page lets you make a one-off donation of any amount to the cause you care about most, from clean water to disaster relief, healthcare and education, or you can let us direct it where the need is greatest.
Give monthly. Regular giving by Direct Debit helps us plan projects with confidence. You can set it up on our regular giving page.
Add Gift Aid. If you are a UK taxpayer, ticking the Gift Aid box adds 25% to your donation at no cost to you. A £2,000 well becomes £2,500 of funding with a single tick.
Fundraise for us. Many supporters fund a well together as a family, a workplace or a community group. You can set up a fundraising page on our JustGiving page.
However you choose to give, every donation to Humanity First UK supports programmes delivered by our own teams on the ground, and you can see where the money goes in our annual reports.
Frequently asked questions
Is Humanity First UK a legitimate charity to donate a water well to? Yes. Humanity First UK is a registered charity in England and Wales, regulated by the Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator. Every donation funds programmes delivered by our own field teams overseas, and you can see how funds are spent in our annual reports. Because each well is traceable from its unique reference to a completion report with GPS coordinates, you can confirm the well your donation built.
Can I donate from outside the UK? Yes. Supporters give to Humanity First UK from all over the world. Gift Aid applies to UK taxpayers only, but every donation, wherever it comes from, funds the same programmes on the ground.
How do I donate to Humanity First in the UK? Donations to Humanity First UK (charity number 1188494) are made through our website at hfuk.org/donate. If you are searching for us, look for the hfuk.org address and our registered charity number, so that your donation reaches the UK charity and qualifies for Gift Aid.
Restore a well for £750 or build a new deep borehole for £2,000 on our Water for Life page, with a named plaque and completion report.
Last updated: 27 August 2026