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.

Returned volunteers from the UK share some of the unexpected things they learned from their VSO experience, from the practical, to the bizarre, to the profound.

Low pay. Lack of respect. Being asked to achieve the impossible with not enough time, resources or training to do your best. Teachers around the world reveal the challenges they face – and why they keep at it despite everything.

A volunteer placement that began more than a decade ago continues to benefit children with special education needs in Vietnam and has laid the foundations for a special relationship between two extraordinary women.

Eileen’s year spent in Zambia was unforgettable. Not just because it was the first year of married life with her husband, but also for the extreme highs and lows of her stint volunteering in the children’s ward of a small rural hospital.

Around the world, tourism is on the rise, but local people often don’t see the benefit. Our work in Zanzibar is a great example of how simple changes could make a world of difference to farmers trying to earn a living.

About half a million children are living in refugee camps in Bangladesh. We're working together to help them.

As the world has changed, VSO has changed with it. To date over 76,000 people have volunteered with VSO. Watch this video showing six decades of fighting poverty in under a minute.

Textile artist Sally Darlington was deeply inspired by the four years she spent volunteering with VSO in Ghana. Sally sadly lost her battle with terminal cancer earlier this month, but not before talking to VSO about a life taking the road less travelled. We remember her here.

Over the past 40 years, Gwen Owen has helped raise an estimated £50,000 for VSO, supporting better education, health and livelihoods for the world's least privileged people. Gwen says collecting for a good cause isn't just satisfying, it's keeping her young.