Spotlight on Lucy Njomo and AYDA: Empowering Youth and Communities
SWIDN Member Lucy Njomo is the Founder and CEO of the African Youth Development Association (AYDA), a UK-based charity supporting the development of young people, including those with additional needs and their families, through education and training. In this blog, we explore Lucy’s journey, the challenges facing young people today, and why access to education…
Spotlight on Dolen Cymru Lesotho: 40 Years of Global Solidarity Between Wales and Lesotho
For more than four decades,SWIDN Member Dolen Cymru Lesotho has been quietly building something powerful: long-term, people-to-people connections between Wales and Lesotho.Founded over 40 years ago and now in its 41st year, the organisation isn’t a “traditional” international development charity. Instead, it focuses on bilateral learning – sharing skills, expertise, and experience between professionals in…
Meet Ruby Chen: Turning Ideas Into Engaging Art
At SWIDN, we are incredibly grateful to the people who share their time and creative skills to support our work. We’d like to take a moment to thank Ruby Chen, who volunteered her illustration skills to support SWIDN. Ruby brought curiosity, creativity and professionalism to her work with us, and we’re thankful for the time…
Powerful photography exhibition spotlighting women land defenders comes to Exeter for International Women’s Day
SWIDN are pleased to share this piece provided by and written by ActionAid A striking photography exhibition organised by ActionAid UK which spotlights women aroundthe world who are defending their land and their communities from destruction is coming toExeter this International Women’s Day. Women By Women: Rooted in Resilience depicts women leaders in Brazil, Cambodia,Nepal…
The SWIDN Network’s views on the Future of UK Aid
In the autumn, SWIDN gathered input from our members and submitted this to the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee’s inquiry into the Future of UK Aid. We said we would publish our submission when we were able to and, now that it’s available on the IDC website for public view, we can do so here.…
British Public Defy Anti-Solidarity Narrative as Members Hit Christmas Fundraising Targets
We are delighted to congratulate our member organisations who took part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025. Together with our sister network the Small International Development Charities Network (SIDCN), members of SWIDN and SIDCN achieved remarkable success this Christmas, with all SWIDN members meeting their targets and over 68% surpassing their fundraising goals, while…
Holding on to Connections (Letting go of 2025)
There is no doubt that 2025 has been an extremely difficult year for global solidarity. Whether it’s reflected in our monthly management accounts, the frustration of yet another funding rejection, or the evidence of growing inequality that reminds us why our work matters, we all recognise a difficult truth. As a community committed to global…
Learning from Others: the SWIDN Annual Conference 2025
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the SWIDN Annual Conference 2025 in October. It was an inspiring and deeply reflective day of listening, learning and connecting across the South West and beyond. Together, we explored how our sector can confront historical inequities and move towards more just, anti-colonial, and equitable ways of working.…
That Swedish ‘Fika’ Feeling (or Tackling the big Questions Together)
I’ve never been to Sweden before. From dashing out the door at 5am for the coach to Heathrow, to arriving back in the early hours of the morning 3 days later, it was a dizzying, inspiring, exhausting, and quite honestly life-changing experience. Dare I say it, my trip to Sweden last week was reparative. In…
