Archive for May 2023

Firstly, thanks to SWIDN for marking the 3rd December International Day of People with Disabilities by giving us the chance to write about Motivation’s disability inclusion work.  We are a charity and social enterprise with a thirty-year history of wheelchair design and provision in less-resourced settings.  A staggering 75 million people in less-resourced settings are…

Legs4Africa is a Bristol based charity and since its inception in 2014 we have grown in every way but our core focus has remained the same – to help as many people with limb difference in sub-Saharan Africa to have access to an affordable prosthetic leg. From an initial one leg sourced for a friend…

This September, Chance for Childhood launched our OverExposed campaign, a call to action to raise standards and reframe thinking on the way the sector uses children’s images and stories. We were delighted when SWIDN pledged to join us on this journey and loved every minute of our session at this year’s online conference. It was full of…

In mid-August 2022, all of South West England was declared drought-affected by the Environment Agency. That probably means where you live if you’re a SWIDN member.  Have you noticed? What have you done differently? Maybe you’ve stopped using the hose to water the garden? But let’s be honest, how many of us really water the…

The MSc Society, Politics and Climate Change, which will investigate the impact of a changing climate on our society, is set to shape the next generation of environmental champions. As part of their course, students can take on a research project with a professional partner. The projects will be rooted in cutting-edge research and academic…

Why would you do that? Ripple Effect Communications Manager Jennifer Stevenson charts the change. There’s no doubt that people loved the name Send a Cow. It had charm by the bucketload, and the kind of Does-What-It-Says-On-The-Tin practicality that cuts through to individual donors. It evoked a bold 35-year history that started with a group of dairy farmers…

Last Thursday, the UK parliament’s International Development Committee (IDC) published its much anticipated report on Racism in the aid sector. SWIDN were proud to contribute to The Philosophy and Culture of Aid inquiry with our written and oral evidence reflecting the views of some in our community who took the time to complete our survey or talk to…

How much of your childhood education can you remember? Perhaps you remember specific skills you learnt, like when you’re faced with a particular sum or a tricky word to spell. Or perhaps you remember chunks of knowledge about wider topics, like Henry III or the science behind osmosis?  Depending on where in the world we…

There is a growing discussion in our sector about racism and its impact on international development. At SWIDN, we want to be clear that we take a zero tolerance approach to racism. At the same time, we also want to acknowledge that dismantling racism in our sector is going to take time, and the action,…