Donate today| VSO

Help local volunteers – the people who change lives.

Around the world, children with disabilities are being denied an education. Will you donate today to right this wrong?

Children from poor communities around the world face significant challenges and risks - poverty, discrimination and isolation. Girls are especially affected. Many, like Baano in Nepal, who also have learning needs that teachers are not equipped to support, making education even harder to access. Denied a choice, a voice and an education. It is not right, or fair.

Since 1958, VSO has equipped volunteers with the skills and tools they need to change lives. And right now, there are millions of girls we urgently need to reach. What they lack isn't commitment. It's access to funding when it matters most.

Donate to VSO's Spark Fund today and you will equip local volunteers with the training and resources they need to give girls like Baano the education they deserve.

Teacher Denis helping Nangiro with her work in class.

Spanora Media

£5 a month could help train teachers to ensure children with disabilities receive the specialist support they need in order to excel.

£12 could enable VSO volunteers to train women to sort the waste they collect, and nearly double the money they earn.

Jonito, VSO volunteer near the mangrove planting area.

VSO/Lisa Marie David

£20 would equip a volunteer with climate and resilience training to help communities manage during crisis

£5

£12

£20

Nangiro sat on her wheelchair (right) with VSO volunteer Semmy (left).

Spanora Media

£15 will equip a VSO volunteer to work with families and break down barriers to sending girls and children with disabilities to school.

Hossian - a VSO volunteer in Coz's Bazar

£52 will provide a volunteer with training to teach and support children living in refugee camps

Teacher Yeko helping Nakiru with her school work in class.

Spanora Media

£100 will equip a volunteer-led classroom with essential learning resources for 30 children.

£15

£52

£100

Equip a local VSO volunteer

When children are at risk, the people who can help are already there.

Saahin looking at the camera — Local volunteers need support to reach more girls like Baano with education.

VSO is an international charity that backs local volunteers to spark lasting change. VSO provides the training, skills, resources and networks that they need to change people's lives.

Nearly 1 in 3 girls around the world have never set foot in a classroom**. You can equip a local volunteer with the training they need to help a vulnerable girl who is missing out on an education.

Every day, Baano watched children from her village go to school while she stayed home. She wanted to join them, but she couldn’t. She didn’t know the language, and without it, she was shut out. Many girls who have additional learning needs, like Baano, have never even been to school. They are completely shut out due to their additional needs and the financial struggles of their families to support them. They are deeply isolated and lonely.

Do you believe that every child deserves an education?

Thanks to VSO supporters backing local volunteers, Baano was given the opportunity to catch up. She received bridge classes to learn the national language, school supplies, and the guidance of a VSO Big Sister mentor. Now, she is in school learning and building a better future.

Right now, VSO volunteers need support to show up for children, helping them learn and have hope. Donate to the spark fund to equip a local volunteer today with the training and skills they need to give more girls like Baano a life-changing education and brighter futures.

Donate now

How the spark fund works

One donation. Lasting impact.

You donate - your gift goes to VSO's spark fund.
Volunteers receive fast, flexible funding - small grants equip and train volunteers quickly when there is no funding or funding is ending.
Communities grow stronger - volunteers create practical solutions including equipping and training emergency responders, teachers, and health clinics.
The spark spreads - volunteers spark others into action, strengthening volunteer networks and changing more lives.
Then it starts again

You will equip volunteers - working in some of the world's poorest communities and have no funding - with the skills, tools, and training to change lives. Donate today to directly back local volunteers.

Donate now