Speaking this month we have:
- Rob Self-Pierson – Twinned with…. An adventure through the twin towns of Europe
In 2012, I hopped in my trusty car KT with my girlfriend RG and drove 10,000 miles around 45 twin towns on the European continent – towns that friends, family and strangers had asked us to visit.
Why? To discover what happens in these twins. And find out what we could about this cultural phenomenon, from the people who keep it going.
House party invitations with dreadlocked strangers in Ghent, 6am sunrises in Clermont l’Herault, flat tyres in Italy, hairpin bends in the Pyrenees, drunken arguments in Praha, new nieces, Inquisitions, Austrian earthquakes and lots more. All in just three mad months.
Welcome to a town twinning experience like no other.
Find out more about Rob’s website wearetwinnedwith.com and follow him on twitter @robselfpierson
- Nigel Watt MBE, Hannah Smith, Olivia Ng – three continents, 9000 miles, one idea.
How much adventure can you pack into 18 months working in the coldest, and one of the most polluted city on this planet…? It turns out, a fair bit. From falling through the ice at minus 30 degrees C, diving for the first time of my life, in Siberia, in relatively balmy temperature of minus 7 degrees, to organising a charity ball celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee in, er, Mongolia.
“All of these started with one idea – a two weeks volunteering workcamp in Ulaanbaatar. As it turns out… it changed the way I look at the world forever”. Olivia
This talk brings together the stories of three travellers: Nigel, who first took part in workcamps in the 1950s, dedicated his life time to the beautiful continent, joining the International Volunteering Service, founding workcamp associations in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Namibia. Nigel later worked for Christian Aid in Burundi and was awarded an MBE for his work. He is the chairperson of Volunteer Action for Peace (VAP).
Hannah volunteered in Germany – in an Island where the main form of access is twice a day by car, when the tide is low. (If it so turns out that you are still there when the water is back… yeap there are emergency poles that you can climb up and wait for rescue).
How much difference can one individual make…? We look forward to sharing our stories with you and would love to hear your experience and your view on how we can do more.
London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.
Admission costs, £3 for Members and £6.00 Non-members. You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting approximately 40 minutes.
There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September.
If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here.