Prime Minister recognises The Washing Machine Project

Taking inspiration from his father, an aerospace engineer, Navjot has always been obsessed with new and innovative things from a very young age.

Whilst working on a project with Engineers Without Borders, Navjot noticed his neighbour, Divya, perform the back-breaking work of hand washing clothes because she couldn’t afford an electric washing machine.

Handwashing clothes sounds like a simple task, but it is such an inefficient way of performing this kind of everyday, mundane, relatively unproductive task and it’s often taken for granted. Not only that, but it also affects the well-being and livelihood of women worldwide – in that it is so time consuming and unpaid, so it limits the capacity for them to do paid work.

This is when The Washing Machine Project was born.

The Divya 1.5 is a manual, off-the-grid washer-dryer machine. Inspired by a salad spinner, it saves up to 75% of the water and 50% of the time compared to handwashing, thanks to powerful and intelligent components. It weighs 35kg, has a load capacity of 5kg, spins around 500 revolutions per minute and has one to five gearing ratios. The target cost is £50, and it comes with a two-year warranty.

The Washing Machine Project designs, manufactures and distributes these machines to dozens of villages around the world. Not only that, but the machines have been distributed to people in refugee camps globally as a means to give them access to clean clothes.

Now, Sawhney has been given the Points of Light award. Points of Light are outstanding individual volunteers – people who are making a change in their community. Every weekday the Prime Minister recognises an inspirational volunteer with the Points of Light award.

In a personal letter to Nav, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “You have used your professional skills as an engineer to help thousands of people around the world who don’t have access to electric washing machines.

“Your innovative, hand-cranked washing machines are giving families the dignity of clean clothes and the time you are saving them is empowering many women who have been held back from education and employment.

“I know that your machines are also helping Ukrainian families who have been forced to flee their homes and are currently living in humanitarian aid centres.

“Your ingenuity, compassion and dedication to improving the lives of others is an inspiration to us all.”

Sawhney has said: “Winning the Points of Light award and getting recognised by the Prime Minister is a phenomenal privilege. The Washing Machine Project’s mission is to alleviate the burden of unpaid labour, mainly on women and children.

“I’m so proud that giving back the dignity of clean clothes to those who hand wash them is getting the recognition it deserves. Thank you to our team, volunteers, partners, and beneficiaries who work tirelessly daily to make our mission a success.”

We congratulate Navjot Sawhney on the honour of this award and you can read our Editor’s interview with the founder to learn more about the amazing work he does.