Alfred Pisani, Founder and Group Chairman of Corinthia Hotels, appointed Corporate Patron of Just a Drop, the International Water-Aid charity.

16 August 2011

Fiona Jeffery, founder and chairman, Just a Drop, the international water-aid charity, announced the appointment of Alfred Pisani, founder and group chairman, Corinthia Hotels, as a corporate patron. Corinthia Hotels, the five-star hotel collection, will also formally adopt Just a Drop as its official charity.

Other Just a Drop patrons include Baroness Joyce Anelay of St. Johns, Lord Digby-Jones as well as television presenters Stephen Sackur and Alastair Stewart.

Corinthia Hotels hosted the recent Just a Drop annual gala reception at its newly opened luxury property, the Corinthia Hotel London, located in the heart of the West End in Whitehall Place, in-between Trafalgar Square and the Embankment.

Tony Potter, CEO and managing director, CHI Hotels & Resorts, the operating company for Corinthia Hotels, and himself a long time supporter of Just a Drop, explained that Corinthia chairman Alfred Pisani was most impressed with Just a Drop, because “the results have positively touched the lives and futures of so many.” Potter added “now that Corinthia has opened its flagship hotel in London, we can work more closely with the Just a Drop team to help promote the Charity, which has become a benchmark for the travel industry in caring for the very communities around the world that host our guests.”

Jeffery added: “We are absolutely delighted that Corinthia, led by Alfred Pisani, is to get more closely involved with the urgent work of Just a Drop. He has accepted our invitation to become one of its patrons and is to become personally involved in helping lift youngsters and their families out of terrible poverty, where even clean water to drink, cook and bathe is totally lacking”.

The first year of commitment will see the group supporting community driven projects in Africa, providing long term sustainable benefit to communities at the grass roots, directly helping to give children the gift of life and good health.

Alfred Pisani, commenting from his headquarters in Malta said “I am delighted to become a corporate patron for Just a Drop for several reasons. Paramount amongst these is that the charity is based upon providing the world with the essential ingredient of clean water and in a number of cases this also benefits communities in which we operate Corinthia Hotels. This is an ideal opportunity to demonstrate our commitment as hoteliers, to working with the local and global community.”

Since its launch 11 years ago, Just a Drop has helped more than a million children and their families in 29 countries worldwide, carrying out health and sanitation programs. The charity relies entirely on donations from individuals and businesses and regular contributions through ‘Friend for Life’. Log on to www.justadrop.org for further information.

Click here to view a picture of Mr Alfred Pisani

Press Enquiries

Corinthia Hotels: Manuel Briffa
Tel: +356 2551 1146
Fax: +356 2123 9732
Mobile: +356 9943 2252
E-mail: mbriffa@corinthia.com
Website: www.corinthia.com

Just a Drop: Melissa Holstegge,
Brighter Group Phone: 0207 326 9891
E-mail: melissa.holstegge@brightergroup.com

Editors’ notes

About Just a Drop

Launched in 1998 at World Travel Market, international water-aid charity Just a Drop is a registered charity (number 1100505) that raises money to build wells, install boreholes and hand pumps, and carry out sanitation and health education programmes in some of the poorest parts of the developing world. Its aim is to reduce child mortality by delivering accessible clean, safe water where it is needed most. It has already helped over 1 million children and their families in 29 countries worldwide, and continues to manage crucial projects all around the world.

Fast Facts – Just a Drop

Over 884 million people in the world – do not have access to clean, safe water. Around 2.5 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation – almost two-fifths of the world’s population. Over 2.75 million people (over 1.4 million children) die from diseases every year because of unsafe water. Children in poor environments often carry 1,000 parasitic worms in their bodies at a time. A child dies around every 20 seconds as a result of water-borne diseases. £1 is all it takes to provide a child with clean, safe water for 10 years.

About Corinthia Hotels

Corinthia Hotels is a collection of five-star hotels founded by the Pisani family of Malta. The Corinthia brand remains true to its roots as a family business, fired by a passion for craftsmanship of care, devotion to detail and intuitive, warm services. Each of our luxury hotels and resorts created in some of the most intriguing areas of the world is a unique tribute to local architecture and cultural traditions. Members of Corinthia’s extended family are committed to the values of honest and discreet service. The newly opened flagship Corinthia Hotel London is the ninth of Corinthia Hotels’ collection and is located in the heart of the capital. Corinthia Hotels’ portfolio includes the award-winning Corinthia Hotel Budapest in Hungary, Corinthia Hotel Prague in the Czech Republic, Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg in Russia and Corinthia Palace Hotel & Spa in Malta. The portfolio also features Corinthia Hotel St George’s Bay in Malta, the superior five-star Corinthia Hotel Tripoli in Libya, and the modern Corinthia Hotel Lisbon in Portugal.