Children wrote letters to the Prime Minister during the Day of the African Child supporting the ‘Send My Friend to School’ campaign.
Matt Western delivers children’s letters
Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington, has now delivered the letters. He writes: “Paid an important visit to Downing Street to hand deliver a great many excellent letters that had been hand-written by primary school children from Warwick and Leamington, Whitnash and the villages for the Day of the African Child event which is held annually by One World Link at local schools.”
The photograph shows Matt handing over the letters on the doorstep of No 10 Downing Street
“Bo Fest” at All Saints raises money for education in Bo
All Saints School in Warwick held a special “Bo Fest” to raise funds for the One World Link-EducAid project in Bo. The children sold cakes, face paints, football cards and crafts!
The first year of the project is coming to a successful conclusion and the first five linked schools have received their certificates. Now we are looking forward to the second year, when another five schools will have continuous dedicated training from an EducAid mentor to improve standards and attendance.
Our link schools, teachers and supporters are raising funds to pay for the coming year of the project. We would love to hear from anyone who would like to take part or send us a donation.
Bo Fest at All Saints WarwickBo Fest at All Saints WarwickBo Fest at All Saints Warwick
One World Link at the Peace Festival in Leamington, 2026
One World link’ s stand at the Leamington Peace Festival on 13th and 14th June welcomed visitors of all ages. Our volunteers explained how OWL’ s core message: that close ties and understanding contribute to peace.
We had a special display of photographs showing the progress of our joint ‘Ignite Bo’project with EducAid, a Sierra Leone-based charity specialising in educational development.
Meanwhile, through the public address system, Sunita Smith explained the message to the assembled crowd: “At the heart of our work is a simple belief: that peace grows when people learn from one another, respect one another and work together towards a common future.”
The OWL standVolunteers manning the stallOur youngest visitorVolunteers manning the stallSunita Smith explains OWL’s commitment to peace through education
We had a full house at St Pauls Church Centre on 24th January for our AGM which followed a delicious lunch of samosas, salads and other treats.
The Chair, Paul Atkins, welcomed our special guests: The Mayor of Leamington Spa – Councillor Ruggy Singh, The Mayor of Warwick – Councillor Jackie D’Arcy, The Mayor of Whitnash – Councillor Adrian Barton and Councillor Ms Cathy Herbert
There was plenty to report as Paul led a review of the year’s activities in chat show format.
Reports on the Education, Planing and Health links
Education Link
Liz Garrett looked back over an eventful year which started with some initial plans to work with EducAid and now finds the Ignite Bo project in full swing with five of our partner schools which had been selected from applicants as those most suitable to benefit this year. EducAid runs role model schools in Sierra Leone and OWL is now one of their partners. Liz described EducAid’s Top 10 Strategies for improving teaching and learning. We aim to hit a target of £15000 this year for this project. The teachers’ trip to Bo this February will include activities to inspire young women in Bo. Another celebration of the Day of the African Child was held at St Patrick’s RC Primary School, enabled by a generous grant from Leamington Town Council, whose mayor kindly attended the AGM.
Planning Link
Phil Clarke updated us on the developments with planning in Bo. During last November’s visit we met the new mayor of Bo City Council and visited the central market. The council have invested in a project to improve the central market. We also heard from Haja Lukay about plans to develop a new market outside of the city. Haja, a friend of OWL who has been mentored by Phil, has qualified in planning in China and is now Deputy Chief Administrator on the council. In recognition of his work with The King’s Foundation, Phil was invited to Buckingham Palace last year.
Health Link
Saran Shantikumar was welcomed to OWL as a medical doctor who moved into public health, specialising in infectious disease and epidemiology. He teaches at the University of Warwick and has been working with Dr Nnedi Dede-Konkwo who has been developing the link over the past year. OWL provides a good opportunity for international networking partnerships between academics. The first priority, though, is community health especially maternal health, and carrying out a needs assessment. We were visited recently by Doris Bah, Minister and National Director of Environment in Sierra Leone, providing an opportunity to extend connections in Njala University and Saran is looking forward to a visit to Bo. Samuel Dauda, a mainstay of OWL with a medical background, was attending the meeting via Zoom and there are hopes that he may be able to visit the UK soon.
The One World Link UK Annual General Meeting will be at 1.15pm on Saturday, 24th January, 2026 at St Paul’s Church Lounge, Leicester Street, Leamington Spa, CV32 4TE.
Do come along to find out more about the OWL community and our current projects!
6 September 2025 The Teachers Group of One World Link organised a sponsored walk in Warwick and Leamington on a fine September afternoon. The purpose was to raise funds for the One World Link-EducAid “Transforming Education in Bo” project. Sally Morris had devised an ingenious route that covered ten kilometres with hardly any roads.
Fourteen of us (mainly teachers) and a guide dog assembled in St Nicholas Park, Warwick, and set off round the park and a nearby pond. The route then took us along the Riverside Walk with scenes so rural it was hard to believe that we were only yards away from busy streets.
Riverside Path
Crossing into Leamington we stopped in the garden of The Cricketers for a refreshing half-way drink. As we circled Victoria Park we saw that the children’s play area was teeming with children and the Bowls Club with bowlers. The Pump Room Gardens were even busier with huge crowds enjoying the food festival. We kept to the perimeter, resisting the temptation to stop for any of the many exotic foods on offer. Leamington, it seemed, was the centre of everything this weekend.
On we went beside the river Leam to Newbold Comyn where we did a final loop, triumphantly reaching our finish at The Drawing Board pub.
Nearing the finish
It was a great and worthwhile walk, taking most of us along paths we had no idea existed, and raising more than £3,000 pounds for the project, including Gift Aid.
On 30th August, One World Link took place in the annual Ecofest event organised by Warwick District Council. This has become an annual fixture on OWL’s calendar over the last few years. It is a chance for OWL to share information and updates about our work, reaffirm our commitment to being part of our local community here in Warwick and Leamington and – most importantly – engage with friends old and new. This year we took the opportunity to focus on the new EducAid project we are launching in Bo to support our linked schools.
One World Link with Cllr Tangri at Ecofest Leamington 2025
St Patricks pupil and dad at OWL Ecofest stand 2025
In typical British fashion, we were blessed with mixed weather throughout the day, but the morning sunshine brought out many people of all ages. We had many interesting conversations and made a number of new contacts who we will be contacting with more information about OWL and our work. If you were one of the people who dropped in on our stall, including Councillor Naveen Tangri, Chairman of Warwick District Council, thank you!
OWL will also be taking part in an event on Saturday 13th September between 10am and 3pm in All Saints Parish Church in Leamington as of the national “Heritage Open Days” programme. We will be showcasing our work as part of a wider display of local history research, activities and events. Please come along and find out more if you are in Leamington that day.
Sponsored Walk for education in Bo – 6th September
2025 Sponsored Walk flyer
We are fundraising for our education project ‘Transforming Education in Bo OWL Schools‘. A professional mentor from EducAid will be spending the coming school year with a selection of OWL link schools helping them to raise standards in teaching and learning.
Come and enjoy a sociable and worthwhile sponsored walk around the area of Warwick and Leamington, starting at 1pm on Saturday, 6th September, at St Nicholas Park, Warwick. Please sign up using the online form . If you can’t get to the walk you can always make a donation on our JustGiving page.
