VSO

VSO is an international development charity that works through volunteers. Our vision is a world without poverty in which people work together to fulfil their potential.

We bring people together to share skills, creativity and learning to build a fairer world.

VSO welcomes volunteers from an ever increasing range of countries, backgrounds and ages. National agencies in Canada, Kenya, the Netherlands, the Philippines and India recruit volunteers from many different countries worldwide and this international approach allows us to combine and learn from a rich variety of perspectives.
Ours is a 'people to people' approach to development. Instead of sending food or money, we send women and men from a wide range of professions who want the chance to make a real difference in the fight against poverty. These volunteers work in partnership with colleagues and communities to share skills and learning and jointly achieve change.

VSO is by far the largest independent volunteer-sending agency in the world. Since 1958, we have sent out more than 29,000 volunteers to work in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Pacific region and Eastern Europe in response to requests from our overseas partners. At the moment we have around 1,500 people working in placements in these regions.

VSO has recently merged with BESO. The merger presents us with an exciting opportunity to offer our overseas partners a broader range of development tools through shorter-term volunteering.

VSO is supported by the UK Government's Department for International Development, the European Union, and a range of corporate, trust and individual donors.

Telephone: (+44) 20 8780 7000

Website: www.vso.org.uk