Pestalozzi International Village Trust Alumni Network

30/07/2025

Are there any of the early Pestalozzi UK Village alumni in the London area who remember Aniruddha (better known as Nandu) Joshi? He was in 1966 Indian batch. 🐞
Nandu is visiting the UK next month (12-14 August) and would love to meet up with anyone who remembers him from his Pestalozzi days. 🐞
Drop me a message here or email me at [email protected] so that I can connect you.

17/06/2025

I was wondering if anyone was in contact with Dr Phuoc Minh Le Han? She was the daughter of one of the Vietnamese housemother's. A Sedlescombe local who was friends with her would like to get in touch.
Thanks

07/01/2025

Thanks once again to Aman, who is braving the shave 💇for a second time to raise funds for Pestalozzi International.
I am sure he would be grateful to receive any size donation. 🙂

I'm taking a stand for education and compassion by shaving my head to raise fun… Aman Kumar Jayswal needs your support for Head Shave For Education and Change

22/07/2024

Hi, I have had a message from someone trying to get in touch with one of the Indian Housemothers, Padma Kore, who was at the Village from 1989-92. Anyone know her whereabouts or have any information?
Many thanks 🙂

12/04/2024

We are very sad to hear of the passing of Pestalozzi alum Yousef El Ghawanmeh a couple of weeks ago.
Yousef came to the Pestalozzi Village with the second Arab group in 1968. He will be greatly missed and remembered by all who knew him. Yousef was an amazing person with a great sense of humor and integrity.
Deepest condolences to his brother Ibrahim, family and friends

27/03/2024

Interesting article on Pestalozzi's early history.

We love to hear from our readers and earlier this year got a call from Len Clarke who told us about his memories of the Pestalozzi Children’s Village in East Sussex, England, in the 1960s. Len had seen an image on Flashback of a group of Tibetan children playing ball at the Village shortly after t...

05/02/2024

Sad news. Condolences to Joan's family.

We have just been advised of the death of Joan Austin, aged 92, in Georgia, USA on 29th January 2024.
Joan was a volunteer at the Pestalozzi Children’s Village in 1962 and is remembered by the early European children with great affection. We know that she went on to work at another children’s home (Hutton Poplar) and is remembered by former wards there with equal fondness.
William and Leonard were fortunate to catch up with Joan for a chat on Zoom in 2021. Joan was sharp as a tack and recalled many of her Pestalozzi experiences.
One surprise was when she related a very specific conversation with one of the boys – and we realised it was Willi she’d been talking to all those years ago!
Our thoughts are with Joan’s daughter at this sad time.

02/01/2024

An interesting look at Pestalozzi's history.
Were you there all those years ago? “At this stage we are touch with only a small number of the Tibetan former children,” says Len. “Our hope is to rediscover or account for them and, similarly, regain the lost connection.”

You can get in touch with Len and Will at Early Pestalozzi Children Project– and do your bit to add to the archives of what is wonderful story.

We love to hear from our readers and earlier this year got a call from Len Clarke who told us about his memories of the Pestalozzi Children’s Village in East Sussex, England, in the 1960s. Len had seen an image on Flashback of a group of Tibetan children playing ball at the Village shortly after t...

17/08/2023

Our deepest condolences to Greg's family.

GREG HOPKINS
Sadly, we have been advised of the death of Greg Hopkins, an active supporter of the Pestalozzi Children’s Village in the 1960s and of the Early Pestalozzi Children Project in the last ten years.

As a young volunteer Greg spent time at the Pestalozzi community in Sedlescombe, East Sussex and also helped arrange several weekend trips for the Pestalozzi children to London, under the auspices of the Muswell Hill Methodist Youth Hostel. These were exciting tours and included a variety of excursions and events – including meeting some celebrities.

When this project began in 2013, Greg was extremely encouraging and supportive. His enduring affection for us shone through. Significantly, he was personally responsible for obtaining agreement from BBC and ITV respectively to approve our access to a Panorama program (with Richard Dimbleby) and a Roving Report program (with Andrew Gardner) covering the Pestalozzi Children’s Village. Greg continued to provide us with further assistance and encouragement in the following years.

We remember Greg with immense affection and mourn his death. Our thoughts are with his wife, Lis and their family.

Greg with Tibetan boys during an annual Pestalozzi Open Day
(Photo: courtesy of Greg Hopkins)

06/01/2023

You can follow the current work of Pestalozzi International Foundation UK 🙂🐞