Westden International

Westden International was a collection of projects with partners in the UK and overseas. Westden’s first partners and projects were with Non Governmental Organisations in India which shared a similar philosophy and objectives to Westden.

We also developed projects with other organisations in Ireland, Ukraine and Albania, and supported projects involving NGOs, universities and business organisations in Western and Eastern Europe.

Among these projects has been liaison with community groups in Albania to help develop their business plans. We have assisted with the creation of a strategy for sustainability with indicators for a large region of the Ukraine. We have delivered training and workshops for Eastern European NGOs on aspects of sustainability and community development. Over the last two years we have worked with a range of organisations and their staff across the EU to promote sustainable social and community enterprise. As part of this programme we contributed as tutors on a pilot university course for community entrepreneurs.

Among our reports is a guide to sustainability in practice based on the activities of NGOs in six countries around the world. We have also produced a guide to life in a village in each of these countries as an aid for education and awareness-raising.

Each of our projects was funded independently with on-going support for our work in India provided by the RH Southern Trust. In June 2007, it was agreed to transfer the RH Southern funding from Westden International to a new charity Tamwed, which was set up as a direct result of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004.

Tamwed is focusing on aiding the long term regeneration of Tamil Nadu south of Chennai (Madras), one of the worst hit areas on the Indian East Coast and feels that this should be done as part of an ongoing link between West Devon and Tamil Nadu so that both regions can benefit through their educational, agricultural, business and social links.

For more information on Tamwed visit: www.tamwed.org