The BBC World Service has released the most wide-ranging and independent documentary yet on The Washing Machine Project, a social enterprise tackling the global burden of hand washing clothes – a problem affecting billions of people – with their sustainable laundry solution; The Divya Manual Washing Machine.

Broadcast to millions worldwide, the People Fixing The World episode takes listeners from the project’s inception around a kitchen table in London, to a refugee camp in Greece, households of recipients in rural India and the Bristol workshop where the machines are designed. It’s the first time the organisation’s work has been explored in such depth, combining human stories, data, and even historical context, on what The Washing Machine Project has termed the “global laundry divide”.

The programme follows founder Navjot Sawhney, who left his engineering career to fulfil a promise to his neighbour Divya – whom he met whilst on secondment in India – and design an off-grid, manual washing machine, saving her hours of labour each week. Seven years on, the project has impacted almost 50,000 people, from families in low-income communities to displaced people in refugee contexts; they do this with public support, humanitarian agencies and corporate partners; mainly Whirlpool Foundation.

“This documentary captures our journey like nothing else,” says Sawhney. “It shows the scale of the problem, the difference we’re making, and the urgency of what comes next. We’re on the brink of reaching far more people – but we can’t do it alone. We need an ecosystem of partners, to join the likes of Whirlpool Foundation, Jaguar Land Rover and RS in helping us get to that next goal.’’

The Washing Machine Project aims to impact 1,000,000 people by 2030. With approximately 60 per cent of the global population still hand washing clothes, The Washing Machine Project is calling for partners, funders and supporters to join them in scaling up their impact.

The Washing Machine Project is a UK-based social enterprise, designing and distributing manual, off-grid washing machines for low-income, displaced and remote communities. The Divya machine can save up to 75 per cent of the time and 50 per cent of the water used in handwashing, reducing physical strain and freeing up time for education, work, and family life; especially for women and girls.

Since 2018, The Washing Machine Project has worked in 13 countries; across communities including India, Mexico, Iraq, Uganda and Palestine. The organisation has made an impact in refugee camps, orphanages, schools, hospitals and low income areas around the world. The project’s work is informed by ethnographic research with over 3,000 families and delivered through partnerships with UN agencies, NGOs, and corporate supporters including Whirlpool Foundation.

The Divya machine can save up to 75 per cent of the time and 50 per cent of the water used in handwashing