About Lauren

Lauren volunteered with VESL for the first time in September 2011 for three months in India after completing her degree in Geography from the University of Edinburgh, after doing some other work in the charity sector she joined VESL as the Overseas Programme Assistant for three months before returning to India as a Student Leader. Lauren also visited Thailand and Sri Lanka in summer 2012 to visit projects and see volunteers. As of September Lauren is our first full time member of staff, she is committed to driving VESL forward and has lots of past travel and volunteer experiences to draw on.
Author Archive | Lauren
Bob with his 7A students

Volunteer Update: Bob in Sri Lanka III

You may have seen some of our past updates from Bob who is in Sri Lanka at the moment on a long term placement (for the third year in a row!), if not you can check them out here. Bob is coming to the end of his placement and has e-mailed to tell us about […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

1460047_10151749839455957_1510022606_n

Fundraising: Murder Mystery Evening

A Murder Mystery Evening is a  great opportunity to get all dressed up, have a lovely meal and be dramatic!! What is a Murder Mystery Evening? You can buy murder mystery sets from department stores or on-line at places like Amazon, they are geared up for a certain number of people (6-8 players, 10-12 players […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

Lara2

Volunteer Case Study: Olivia & Lara: No Pain, No Gain

Lara and Olivia spent three months volunteering in India in September 2013, they have written a great blog post to help give you an insight into what it is like volunteering in India. When has anything ever been life changing, amazing or outrageously fun with out being challenging, scary and a little bit painful? …Our […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

Pauline with some students

Volunteer Case Study: Pauline: One Day I Will Be Back

“It has been hard work. It has made me cry with laughter, cry with frustration and sometimes just cry. I’ve been, annoyed and scared (the driving!). It has been hilariously funny, unbelievable sad, humbling, very hot, very humid, very sweaty and very wet. The food, mostly fabulous, sometimes dodgy. The toilets, ever a challenge, the […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

Badminton tournament

Fundraising Idea: Sport-a-thon

Are you a keen sports player? Badminton? Tennis? Football? Netball? Basketball? Organise a fun tournament for people to enter – not only will this help you raise money it will also encourage more people to play the sport you love (and if you’re a member of a club you may be able to recruit some […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

Banana tree in the host family's garden

Volunteer Case Study: Pauline: First Week in India

This is part two of Pauline’s six week trip to India in September 2013, if you missed part one check it out here! Here Pauline reflects on her first week at her project; meeting her host family, exploring the village and starting in school. End of week one and highlights so far: We  are staying […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

Sunset in Kovalam

Volunteer Case Study: Pauline: Arriving in India

Pauline volunteered with VESL in September last year for six weeks in Kerala, India. Pauline has very kindly written up parts of her diary to share with other people who are interested in volunteering with VESL, or who are already going overseas to India and want to get more of an idea about what it’s […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

Heart Cupcake for your Valentine

Fundraising Idea: Valentines Day

Whether you love it or hate it… Valentines Day is a good opportunity to do some fundraising, check out some of our ideas below: Secret Delivery Arrange a stall in your university, at school or work and people can send a rose, home made cup cake with a heart on or chocolate heart lollipop to […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

image (2)

Fundraising Idea: Treasure Maps & Lucky Squares

These are a really great, quick and easy way to get your fundraising started or to top up the last few missing pounds at the end! There are lots of different variations of this but the basic principle remains the same. The basic idea is that you have a numbered grid and hidden somewhere in […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

vesl

What was your VESL moment?

Storify by vesl Thu, Jan 30 2014 12:43:08 What was your VESL moment? We asked our past volunteers to share their #VESLmoments with us and these are the responses we had! If, after you’ve seen our volunteers’ #VESLmoments, you want to join the programme head to our website to download the application form (deadline for […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·
2746488272_43f2755a5a_b

Fundraising: Plan Plan Plan

So we know that planning may seem REALLY BORING, especially when you have course deadlines and jobs to contend with BUT planning is really important when it comes to fundraising. You don’t want it to be two months before you go overseas and then realise that you suddenly have a lot to do!! So make […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

29596_10151616291615957_774516337_n

Fundraising: Inspirational Ideas & Quotes!

It is always great to get some advice and ideas from our past volunteers so make sure you check out these mini case studies on how people reached their fundraising targets below! “I did an Open Mic Night and a fancy dress sponsored walk. Both were fantastic and I couldn’t have done without all my […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

Rotaract

How to stay involved and use your skills in the charity sector…

A lot of volunteers ask us how to use the skills they gained overseas when they return to the UK, and a great way to do this is to get involved with local charities and fundraising. Dave Inman, the Publicity & Membership Officer of Edinburgh Rotaract, has written a great guest blog post to help give an insight […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags:

India rupees

How much spending money do I need?

A questions commonly asked by volunteers is how much spending money they need to take with them. It’s important to remember that on a day to day basis local food will be provided for you for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as will water. Therefore unless you’re planning on buying additional food and/or drinks then during […]

Read full story · Be-first-to-comment ·

Tags: