In 2010, Tiffany and Co. Foundation is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a $1.25 million gift to the Royal Parks Foundation (USA), a charity established to enable America to support the natural history and heritage of London's Royal Parks.

The programme, called Tiffany - Across the Water, focuses on ornamental and drinking fountains in the capital's eight Royal Parks and will see the creation of a stunning new fountain in St James's Park, restoration of The Italian Gardens in Kensington Gardens, as well as improvements to drinking fountains to benefit the Royal Parks' 37 million visitors each year.

The four elements of the restoration programme are:

1. The Italian Gardens
Created in the 1860s, during the reign of Queen Victoria, these gardens have been a much-loved spot for generations of Londoners and visitors to our capital city. We are planning a major restoration of the Tazza and the five other fountains, along with the stone work and benches, and will install a new, cleaner, water system that will not only protect the fountains from becoming blocked with silt in the future, it will also improve the water quality in the Long Water - enhancing this natural habitat for wildlife.

2. St James's Park Lake
St James’s Park, situated between Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, is the oldest Royal Park. Established by Henry VIII in the mid-1500s, today it welcomes around six million visitors each year. We will restore the magnificent 20ft water fountain near Pelican Rock that was once such an integral part of the vista across the lake.

Not only will this restored fountain be beautiful to view, it will also help aerate the lake's water, benefiting and encouraging the wildlife that depends on this city oasis. We will also introduce a new pair of Great White Pelicans to the lake, maintaining a tradition established in 1664, when a Russian Ambassador gave a first pair of pelicans to Charles II.

3. Drinking Fountains
The Royal Parks Foundation's vision is to improve the provision of fresh, healthy, energy - efficient drinking water across the Parks and to minimise the vast number of plastic water bottles discarded in the Parks. So the final and vitally important element of Tiffany - Across the Water is to restore as many of the Parks’ drinking fountains as possible and to launch an international competition to design a new prototype drinking fountain to replace those beyond repair. Ultimately, it is hoped that the winning design will be rolled out in public spaces around the world.

4. Fountain Design Competition
The Royal Parks Foundation and the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, in partnership with The Royal Parks and the Royal Institute of British Architects, are pleased to announce an international competition to design a new "standard model" drinking fountain for The Royal Parks.

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