A CHARITY fundraiser from York will see first-hand how international aid benefits people on the ground in India.

Caroline Beavers, of Holgate York, who works as a manager at a service partner for Yorkshire Water in Bradford, has been chosen to represent the company on a week-long trip to India along with fundraisers from 11 other water companies.

The 32-year-old will visit communities to find out what life is like without safe water and sanitation and visit WaterAid projects in both urban slums and rural villages to see how the money raised by herself and her colleagues is making a difference.

Miss Beavers said: “It’s shocking that 2,000 children die every day from diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation.

“Clean water is something we take for granted in the UK but some people have no choice but to drink dirty water that could make them ill, or worse.”

As part of the trip, to the Madhya Pradesh region of India, Miss Beavers will spend time with a local family living without clean water and sanitation, learning first-hand about the challenges they face without access to these vital resources.

Brought up in the Acomb area of York, where her family still lives, Miss Beavers went to Manor CE School and York Sixth Form College and then Durham University.

While out in India she will also meet children from local schools, sit in on hygiene education sessions, take part in some construction work and learn how access to clean water and sanitation has helped transform people’s lives.

Miss Beavers said: “This trip is a chance for me to see for myself the work that WaterAid is doing to change this and I hope to use my experiences to inspire even more people to get involved and raise funds for this vital cause.”

India has a population of more than one billion.

Diseases are common throughout the country due to contaminated drinking water sources and poor sanitation.

WaterAid estimates that only 31 per cent of the population has adequate sanitation and 320,000, children under five die every year as a result.