Alberto Costa, MP for South Leicestershire, led a meeting on 12th December 2016 between Blaby District Councillor Louise Richardson, and James Wharton MP, Minister in the Department for International Development (DFID), with overall charge for projects in Africa.
The meeting was to discuss ‘Tumaini Jipya’ – a project designed to provide access to drinking water to 14,000 people in Tanzania. The project is being led by Councillor Richardson, who has also previously joined Mr Costa to meet with the former DFID Secretary of State, Rt Hon Justine Greening MP.
Mr Costa said, “Projects like this are very much in line with the Government’s foreign aid objectives to support countries in need of real assistance. Councillor Richardson has already put a tremendous amount of her personal time and energy into this project as a volunteer and I was delighted to arrange for her to meet with the Minister, to seek the Government’s assistance with the water project.”
Councillor Richardson said, “I am grateful to Mr Costa and the Minister, James Wharton MP for their time to discuss the project further. It is imperative that we help those living in difficult and challenging circumstances, so I am keen to do whatever I can to help. Many countries often take clean water for granted, but to those who are currently having to walk over 6 miles to access water, this has the ability to change lives.”
Mr Costa concluded, “I applaud Blaby Councillor Louise Richardson’s hard work and dedication to this project. A concert will be held in the New Year to raise further funds, which includes a performance from number 1 selling Soprano Rebecca Newman. Please do visit the project website for further details.”
