Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship Link
The Link was established to maintain a bridge between Hastings East Sussex and Hastings Sierra Leone (the two towns have been officially twinned since 14.02.07) with the aims of: developing inter-community relations and greater cultural awareness; supporting Hastings Sierra Leone as it rebuilds itself in the aftermath of civil war; providing humanitarian aid and support in the areas of education, health and sustainable development, especially through the local administrative authority, and through the area’s training institutes for medical education, police training, fire & ambulance services and vocational education. The Link has rebuilt 13 bridges in the town; and has completed a 'community resource building' which the villagers have named the Hastings Twin Town Centre. Among other links, there are 14 pairings of schools, with yearly teacher exchanges part-funded by the British Council. These were suspended because of the Ebola crisis, but have since been resumed. We organise fundraising events throughout the year. Our current projects is to provide a safe water supply to all of our partner schools, and in a second phase to install or improve simple toilet facilities.