MindTheTap: Fast Growing Social Enterprise on a mission to keep Londoners beat the heat on the Tube.

This summer, to combat the dangers of heat on the Underground, and reduce the 750 annual faintings, GiveMeTap has launched its own London hydration campaign called MindTheTap. Building on the TFL’s recent ‘Beat the Heat’ programme, GiveMeTap are creating a network of cafes and restaurants around major tube stations, where commuters and travellers can get free refills of tap water, on the go, with their stainless steel GiveMeTap bottle.

Faintings often occur due to lack of water facilities near the underground leaving commuters with the burden of splashing out on expensive bottled water or going without. Having access to free flowing tap water is a sure-fire way to help Londoners beat the heat and keep the underground running smoothly. 

When moving to London after University, GiveMeTap’s founder, Edwin Broni-Mensah, experienced first hand the difficulties with water accessibility on the underground and felt that something needed to be done to tackle dehydration. 

Edwin says “London is in the middle of a much-anticipated heatwave and we think it’s time people on the underground had better access to water, in a more sustainable way. At the same time, we’re helping thousands of people across Africa get access to clean drinking water.”

 As the Mayor of London tackles the issue of ventilation on trains, GiveMeTap aims to improve the possibilities for the public to make their own difference through a simple purchase. Water refill points, which GiveMeTap call ‘Taps’, can be found outside each of the stations, including the busy Victoria Line. Already, they’ve partnered with 150 taps across Central London who will happily refill GiveMeTap water bottles for free.

Over the coming weeks, GiveMeTap will be visible along the escalator panels in the hottest stations and the company states that it aims to have refills point within 400 meters from each Zone 1 station.  Finding your nearest Tap can be done with a few finger taps using their new App available on iOS & Android.

As a social enterprise, GiveMeTap’s social agenda does not stop at tackling heat exhaustion in the UK. For every GiveMeTap bottle purchased, GiveMeTap can provide clean water to a person in Africa. To date, GiveMeTap has completed 8 water projects in across the continent, providing over 4000 people with clean drinking water. Thousands of Londoner’s have already helped save lives by joining the movement including large corporates such as Deloitte, HSBC & Pizza Hut.

GiveMeTap’s vision of accessible water depends on the support of cafes and restaurants all around London. It would be great if cafes could follow the example of the 600 existing taps such as Blackfriars Wine Bar and Micycle in making this water network a success.  You can stay hydrated & help save lives at www.givemetap.co.uk/tube.