In 1981, aged 23, Tewson founded Charity Projects in London, with funding from
Lord (Tim) Bell and numerous other donations. Its initial focus was tackling homelessness in
Soho. Tewson worked in a refugee camp in
Sudan in 1985, where she was pronounced clinically dead after contracting cerebral
malaria. and then a lead civil servant at the Dept. of Victorian Communities. At the time she was suffering from ovarian cancer but survived after operations in Melbourne. (formerly Pilotlight Australia). The book
Change the World for Ten Bucks was published and German and British editions have also been released. The
Dying to Know project and book (2009) is about coming to terms with death, and negotiating grief.
Approach Tewson is known for her approach to charitable works and giving - she believes in making charity "active, emotional, involving and fun", by building connections between people of different backgrounds, cultures, wealth, and social positions. Her approach argues for "people getting directly involved and giving themselves.....", as with the Timebank concept, rather than giving money for charitable works. This "embraces human connection as a vital part of social change". • Timebank (1999). Otherwise known as ONE20, encourages people from all walks of life to give time to community projects, with beneficiaries 'passing on' a similar dedication of time and effort to others. TimeBank has featured on BBC TV several times. • The Corporate Responsibility Index in Australia, that benchmarks companies against their corporate responsibility performance. • Melbourne Cares – promoting corporate support to disadvantaged people. • Charitable Projects ran the Holborn Great Investment Race – which challenged investment companies in the City of London to accrue maximum returns (within ethical guidelines) on 'seed money' donated by Prudential Holborn Trust. In two years, over £1.5 million was raised and donated to charity. • Feet First for Homeless People saw central London commuters walking home in the evening, and donate the money saved in fares to help young homeless people living in the West End. This raised £100,000 in four weeks. • Pilotlight undertook further unconventional activities like Real Deal, which brought together homeless and disadvantaged young people with key policy-makers to speak about drugs, health, education and so-on. A "closed doors" workshop took place between young people and Cabinet Ministers at 11 Downing Street. • With her husband, Tewson organised Whose land?, which funded exchange visits between East African Maasai pastoralists and Australian Aborigine communities, both fighting to regain land rights. ==Awards and honours ==