“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 […]
Tag Archives | volunteering
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Wild Fund: English Signs in Sri Lanka
Our volunteer, Bob, who is currently in Sri Lanka applied to the Wild Fund for money to create English signs to go around the school he is volunteering in. It was felt by the staff and by Bob that exposure to English on a daily basis would benefit the children in their studying of the […]
Fundraising Idea: Smartie Tube Collections
You may remember doing these when you were at school, guides, scouts etc. The idea is very simple! You just need a lot of smartie tubes and some friends to give them out too! What a great excuse to eat a lot of smarties – goodbye new years resolution to give up chocolate!… well if […]
Fundraising: The Top 5 Activities in 2013
To start off the new year we thought we would share with you the top five fundraising activities of 2013 to help inspire you with your fundraising efforts! We know that the idea of fundraising can be very daunting, but hopefully these top five activities will help give you some ideas! 1. Cake Sales – […]
A Review of 2013
2013 has been a busy year here at VESL, we sent our highest ever number of volunteers overseas and we are continuing to see an increase in demand for our volunteers to teach English in the countries we work in. So we feel that it is about time that we updated you in a bit more […]
Fundraising: Getting Started…
As with all new things, making a start is always the hardest part, but remember… The sooner you get started the sooner you will reach your fundraising target. The more ground work and planning you do the more success you will have. The best place to begin is to simply start talking… You should talk […]
Volunteer Case Study: Thailand: A Day In The Life
Check out this case study by Keele student, Katie Hill, who volunteered in Thailand in the summer of 2012 for six weeks. This year Katie is going back to Thailand as a Student Leader! My day would typically start at about half 6 where I would get up showered and ready for school. At about […]
