Congratulations to WaterAid who have won the Charity Film category at the Third Sector Awards.

The Girl Who Built a Rocket is an engaging animation that juxtaposes the billions being spent on Mars missions to find water on an unoccupied planet, with the story of a community in Madagascar and the difference clean water could make there.

Despite living on the fourth biggest island in the world, almost half of Madagascans have no clean water. WaterAid says its aim was to tell the story of the potential of the community in Madagascar, and the barriers blocking it, in a way that would drive increased consideration.

The film uses the shared dreams of children everywhere to establish a universal platform of understanding, around which WaterAid's role in supporting communities to take control is revealed. The soundtrack features a moving instrumental version of David Bowie's classic song Life on Mars?.

The charity says it saw an 18% uplift in cash and regular donations, helping achieve the highest gross response rate in over a year and funding additional projects in Madagascar. The 2021 Third Sector Awards took place in London on 17 September.