Published in September 2025

Our 2025 Big Give Christmas Challenge has now closed. If you missed it and would still like to make a donation towards our work, please click here!

The Big Give Christmas Challenge is the UK’s biggest collaborative fundraising campaign, which raised over £44 million for more than 1,200 UK charities in 2024. For seven days in the lead up to Christmas each year, it offers supporters of participating charities the opportunity to have their donations doubled!

Sand Dams Worldwide once again took part in the Christmas Challenge in 2025, raising £106,395.92 (including match funding and GiftAid) to support the construction of two sand dams and implement a range of land conservation measures in the South Omo zone of Ethiopia. This will help to provide year-around access to clean, safe water for two communities in an area that is experiencing severe environmental challenges and water scarcity. In doing so, the project will also support people’s farming livelihoods, as well as restore degraded land and help to preserve the natural environment for years to come.

On behalf of the dryland communities we support, we'd like to say a big thank you to all supporters and donors for their generosity.

About Ethiopia

South Omo in southern Ethiopia is an area of significant conservational importance, yet severe environmental challenges are threatening biodiversity and local pastoralist livelihoods. Water scarcity poses a major challenge, with 26% of the local population lacking access to a reliable water source. The increasing regularity of droughts in the region is exacerbating this issue and contributing to serious land degradation, which is further worsened by reductions in vegetation growth as a result of livestock grazing. These conditions are leading to widespread food insecurity and poverty, which places further pressure on already fragile ecosystems to sustain the needs of local people.

About sand dams

Sand dams offer a solution, providing year-round access to water, whilst also helping to provide healthier, more productive environments as they recharge groundwater levels, which in turn promotes vegetation regrowth and reduces soil erosion. Watch how sand dams work here:

About our 2025 Big Give Christmas Challenge

We will support the construction of two sand dams across two communities in South Omo, providing them with year-round access to clean water. These communities will also be supported to implement environmental protection measures and practice community-managed tree planting, helping to restore degraded land and preserve the natural environment. Farmers will also be trained in conservation agriculture and natural resource management to help them improve their food security.

"Unlike the past, when we lost livestock during droughts, today I have feed from peas to keep my animals strong and ready for market. This project has not only improved our food security and income but has also given us a future we can build on with confidence."

Gore Balto, member of the Tulungo community, southern Ethiopia.

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Missed our Big Give campaign? Please donate what you can and help to empower vulnerable women and girls in drylands to transform their own lives with sand dams and clean water