About us
Our team
Trustees (Isle of Man)

Trustee: Ian Pilley

Ian has over 35 years in financial services experience working for a multinational Bank, based on the Isle of Man. Having helped organise a couple of sand dam expeditions for his employer, Ian wanted to continue to actively support the charity in making a difference to people living in drylands, and was privileged to be asked to join the board of trustees in January 2025.

Latest

How Sand Dams Are Solving Water Scarcity: Podcast with fundsforNGOs

In an episode of the fundsforNGOs Podcast, Jon Lobb interviews Dwain Lucktung, Communications Manager at Sand Dams Worldwide, about how sand dams work and the impact of sand dam projects in drylands.
February 2026 sand dam expedition with Koy Clothing

In February 2026, a group of volunteers teamed up with Sand Dams Worldwide, Koy Clothing and our local partner, Africa Sand Dam Foundation to support a community in Kenya to build a sand dam. The sand dam was funded by Koy Clothing and their wonderful customers, and will go on to provide the community with a local lifelong supply of clean water.
£22,304.97 raised in our 2026 Big Give Earth Raise campaign. Thank you!

Sand Dams Worldwide is took part in the Big Give’s 2026 Earth Raise campaign (formerly the Green Match Fund), which offered supporters of participating charities the opportunity to have their donations doubled for just seven days. Over £22,000 was raised which will go towards a sand dam project in Tanzania.
Sand dams: empowering women and girls

Please donate what you can to help empower more vulnerable women and girls living in drylands (like Kenyan farmer Martha and her daughter, Faith) to access clean water with sand dams and transform their own lives.

Trustee: Emily Cooper
Trustee: John Peter Maddrell
Trustee: Ian Richard Hemensley

Pharmacist and Chief Operations Officer of the IOM Pharmacy Association
Trustee: Simon Andrew Scott

Managing Director of IQ-EQ on the Isle of Man

We support communities to build sustainable sand dams in some of the poorest, drought-stricken regions across our world.
What is a sand dam?
Donate

Please click here to donate what you can to transform lives and land with sand dams and clean water.
Watch how sand dams work

Film explaining how sand dams work and their potential impact in the world's drylands
Reversing land degradation and desertification

Conservation of the environment is critical to the economic development of people living in drylands.
1 million sand dams for 0.5 billion people by 2050

Read about our plan to directly support other organisations to build sand dams, in turn, realising our vision to support millions of the world’s poorest people by helping them to transform their own lives through water and soil conservation in drylands.
The challenge

Find out what are drylands, why they are they are such harsh regions to live, how sand dams are applicable in drylands and what difference they can make to over 40% of the world's land surface.
Act Now: Tackle Food Crisis With Sand Dams

Support dryland communities to overcome food shortages, and ensure they can grow enough food to eat and sell. It all starts with ensuring they have access to water. That’s where sand dams come in.
Sand dam manual

For everything you need to know about building sand dams, click here to read (and download for free!), Sand Dams: A Practical & Technical Manual.
Our approach

Find out more about Excellent's approach, from working with self-help groups to why we partner we on-ground, local organisations.