
An Aberdeen church is feeling flushed with success after pairing with five different toilets across the world as part of an international scheme.
Dyce Parish Church raised funds for charity Toilet Twinning, which included matching five of the toilet facilities located within the church with those in less fortunate areas.
Community groups and organisations can “twin” their bathrooms with some of the poorest, most remote communities in the world.
For £60, a group can match facilities with one overseas – sponsoring one for a family living in poverty.
Since the campaign began in 2010, more than 100,000 toilets have been matched.
Dyce Parish Church matched two church toilets, and three that are in the hall.
A total of £480 was raised by members of the congregation which allowed the initiative to go ahead.
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They have matched with Sheniah in Afghanistan, Mukolwe, Tanganyika, South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, LaWaDa, Ptao, Kachin State in Myanmar, Chibwana Village, Rumphi District in Malawi, and Choma, Southern Province in Zambia.
Images of each of the toilets can be seen at the church premises.
Morag Gunn, a long-standing member of the church, spoke of the generosity of people in Dyce, who backed the plan to support families living in poverty.
She said: “I first heard about it when I was at a church conference in Fochabers.
“I thought it was something we could do, and when I got up to explain about it at a coffee morning we got £200 in the first day. People gave very generously.”
Money was raised for the scheme through events such as a coffee morning and afternoon tea.
Speaking of the scheme, Morag said: “Not a lot of people know about it.
“Girls can’t get to school because they don’t have access to toilets. The people in Dyce are very generous.”
It is hoped that other groups will be inspired to do the same.
Toilet Twinning chief executive Lorraine Kingsley said: “Dyce Parish Church can be certain that their fundraising will change lives completely, because even a simple latrine protects a family from disease, restores their health and enables them to work and farm and take a first big step out of poverty. We’re hugely grateful to them all.”
Toilet Twinning works with community-based partners in about 20 countries, and aims to raise money to provide clean water, safe toilets and hygiene training.
Around 2.3 billion people across the world still do not have access to a safe, clean toilet, and more than two million people worldwide die every year from diarrhoeal diseases.
A child under five dies of disease linked to dirty water and poor sanitation every two minutes, and 663 million people do not have access to clean water close to home.
Dyce Parish Church is based on Victoria Street in Dyce.
It hosts a service at 11am every Sunday, and one at 9.30am on the second and last Sunday of every month, alongside Sunday schools.
For more information on the charity, visit www.toilettwinning.org