Blog

VSO’s brand new speaker service is made up of a network of returned volunteers across the UK. We caught up with two VSO speakers, Shonesé and Mark, who were among the first to sign up – sharing their experience volunteering with local communities.

From fostering cross-cultural understanding between countries, to furnishing hundreds of classrooms, many volunteers carry on making a difference after their official VSO placement has ended. This 'ripple effect' is still changing lives around the world.

People in developing countries are bearing the brunt of global climate change, but VSO is supporting communities to become more resilient to changes in their natural environment.

In 1990, healthcare worker Elaine Bhate left the UK to volunteer as a VSO midwife. Almost three decades later – her daughter Ria, 19, followed in her footsteps. We caught up with them to understand how volunteering overseas changed their lives.

VSO has been working with software consultants, Equal Experts, using software to help rural farmers access new services in Bangladesh.

We caught up with VSO’s Responsible Volunteering Specialist to find out how she's raising awareness about orphange ‘voluntourism’ and responsible volunteering.  

Fatima Al Hassan is part of a new generation of female farmers in Nigeria. In the past two years, Fatima has gone from cash-strapped housewife to successful entrepreneur, and is helping fight gender inequality along the way.

With your help, VSO is assisting the Ethiopian government with improving education in the underdeveloped region of Benishangul-Gumuz. Focusing on marginalised and indigenous communities, children with disabilities now have the opportunity to receive an education. From buying hearing aids to building ramps, see how your donations are making a difference.  

In Nigeria last year, six times more people were killed in clashes between herdsmen and farmers than in attacks by terrorist group Boko Haram. So why aren’t we hearing more on this issue?

Step away from the day job. After 15 years of partnership with VSO, Randstad’s CEO, Jacques van den Broek, tells us why he wants his employees to take time to volunteer.

VSO Knowledge Exchange offers skilled employees in the private sector a way to volunteer to help change the lives of people in some of the world’s poorest places.

Despite significant leaps forward in global health over the past few decades, millions of people are unable to access the healthcare they deserve. It’s now imperative that we reach those left behind before it's too late.