PUPILS from Keighley have walked in solidarity with people who are unable to access clean or safe drinking water around the world.

Nine students from Holy Family Catholic School joined pupils from other schools to walk from Granary Wharf, in Leeds, to Kirkstall Abbey last month. (March)

This was part of Catholic aid agency CAFOD’s annual Lent appeal, which this year is concentrating on providing clean water to people living in poverty.

The three-mile walk involving the pupils from Holy Family saw some of the students carrying buckets of river water along the canal to mark World Water Day.

Their fundraising efforts for the Lent Appeal will be matched by the UK Government's Department for International Development until May 9, allowing more than 300,000 people in Uganda, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to access clean water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.

Joanne Taylor, CAFOD representative in Leeds, said: “Being able to turn on a tap and have clean water is something we take for granted, but having to walk miles every day to collect water is a daily reality for so many people around the world in some of the poorest communities."