About VESL
VESL is a UK charity that provides meaningful short, mid and long term volunteering opportunities in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
Every project we undertake is carefully selected to ensure maximum benefits are brought to the local communities while also making every effort to ensure volunteers have an unforgettable experience.
Volunteers are sent overseas throughout the year and we have projects to suit volunteers with all types of skills base and experience. All applications are evaluated on their own merit so there is nothing to stop you applying...
VESL is a registered charity and not run for profit.
Want to Apply?
If you are looking for an experience you will never forget and want to get involved please download our info pack containing all you need to know about our volunteer opportunities and send us your completed application form asap.
Next Deadline
The next information & selection event will be :-
London - Mon, 20th July (6-8pm)
This event is for those interested in 3-6 month projects later in the year or in 2010 or for those interested in the 4-6 week summer programme in 2010.
If you would like to be invited to attend a selection event we must have your application form no later than a week prior to the event, however, places on these events can be limited and we would recommend that you send us your application form as soon as you can.
Please check the 'important dates' page for details of other upcoming selection events.
Volunteers Needed
VESL is looking for volunteers to take on a range of 3 to 6 month projects we aim to run throughout '09/'10 in addition to our short term 4 to 6 week summer programme. We have projects available in Northern Thailand, Southern and Central Sri Lanka and across Andhra Pradesh in India.
Our application process is open throughout the year and we have already started recruiting so send us your application form asap.
Why not apply for one of our worthwhile projects and have an experience you will never forget...
Why not check out the volunteers' photo galleries to see some of our projects or read through 'our projects' page to get an overview of the projects we have available.
Latest News
A Step Towards Lasting Peace in Sri Lanka
20th May 2009
"... Sri Lankans of all communities, Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim, will be relieved that the long and brutal conflict may at last be over. Sri Lanka has before it an historic opportunity to resolve the underlying causes of the conflict and ensure a lasting peace."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband commenting on the end of the armed conflict in the North of Sri Lanka during a statement to the House of Commons on Tuesday 19th May.
New British Safety Council Partnership
1st February 2009
VESL has signed up to a new partnership training programme with the British Safety Council to offer free training to our volunteers in health and safety awareness overseas. Volunteers who opt into the training programme will also be trained in how to pass on their knowledge and deliver basic health and safety training to children in the rural communities in which they will be working.
Our first set of volunteers have already completed the training course and the feedback has been fantastic. This partnership has the potential to be of real value to volunteers and communities alike and we are confident the programme will be a great success.
Keele University signup to our partnership programme
11th December 2008
VESL is extremely pleased to announce that Keele University has signed up to our new 'University Overseas Challenge' programme. VESL will be sending students from Keele (VE@Keele) and Manchester Metropolitan University (coMMUni) to projects in India and Thailand this summer. This is a great opportunity to continue to build on the success of last year's volunteers in our pilot programme with coMMUni and we are all looking forward to making a success of the programme again this coming summer.
VESL volunteers take TEFL course online
8th December 2008
VESL has been able to establish an affiliate scheme with an on-line TEFL institute that will give our volunteers a substantial discount on their on-line course. The course has been recommended by previous volunteers and is accredited by the IATQQ which will give those that take part an accredited TEFL qualification.
As an added bonus the TEFL institute will also enroll our volunteers in their 'Teaching Young Learners' course for free.
The course will be open to anyone that is interested in gaining a TEFL qualification so please contact us if you'd like any further info.
VESL short-listed for an ACE Award
10th November 2008
We are extremely pleased to announce that VESL has been short-listed for an Active Citizens of Europe [ACE] Award in the category of 'Best International Volunteering Project'. VESL is very proud to have been short-listed for this award and we feel this nomination is recognition for all the fantastic work our volunteers carry out overseas.
VESL Sponsored walk
7th October 2008
VESL would like to say a massive thank you to all of the volunteers that joined us over the weekend for this year's sponsored walk and volunteer reunion. It was an amazing effort made by everyone and it was great to see you all smiling through the howling wind and rain!
All the fundraising is not yet in but it already looks like we have raised close to £2000 which is a fantastic total so thank you for all your effort.
Thanks must also go to everyone that sponsored our team of walkers, your support is greatly appreciated.
VESL launches new partnership programme for universities
21st September 2008
We are all very excited to launch a new initiative this year called the 'University Overseas Challenge'. After running a successful pilot programme with Manchester Metropolitan University's volunteer centre (CoMMUni), we are looking for more universities to take part in this new partnership programme.
If you are a university volunteer officer or careers advisor and would like to offer your students and staff the opportunity to work on a well structured, well supported and worthwhile overseas volunteering project next summer we would love to hear from you.
To find out more information please email tom@vesl.org or call 0845 094 3727.
New Trustee Appointed
6th September 2008
We are very pleased to officially announce that Clara Hebblethwaite has accepted our invitation to join our board of trustees.
Clara has been involved with VESL since 2004 when she volunteered in our summer programme in Sri Lanka. Clara went on to complete a PGCE and become on a full-time teacher in London and became a return volunteer in 2007; we were fortunate enough to have Clara as one of our team of teachers who volunteered as part of our teacher training programme in Sri Lanka that ran workshops for more than 700 Sri Lankan English teachers.
We are all extremely pleased to welcome Clara to the board and we are sure she will prove to be a great asset to VESL and our volunteers.
Making the most of donations
20th August 2008
We would firstly like to send an enormous thank you to Janet and Stuart Wild who have been able to successfully raise more than £1100 for VESL through their justgiving.com fundraising page. Family and friends helped to raise this fantastic donation as part of Janet and Stuart's 25th wedding anniversary celebration and thanks must also go out to each and every person that contributed to the event.
Due to the size of the amount raised we have taken the opportunity to create 'The Wild Development Fund'.
Our aim is to have our long term volunteers identify opportunities within their projects or the local communities to create micro-finance projects or to identify a need for resources within their schools or orphanages. The hope is that we can make the most of this money and provide equipment or resources directly to as many communities as possible, whilst making sure this money is spent on exactly what is needed.
We plan to pilot the scheme with our next set of long term volunteers heading out in September and we will keep you posted as things develop.
VESL given official M.O.U. in Thailand
6th August 2008
We are extremely pleased to announce that VESL has is given a M.O.U. (Memorandum of Understanding) by the OBEC (Office of Basic Education Commission) in Thailand. This M.O.U. officially recognises the partnership between VESL and the OBEC and will allow us to expand our programme into even more rural schools in Thailand. Thanks must go to all our representatives in Thailand who have helped gain this M.O.U. and establish a successful and worthwhile programme; we could not have achieved this without you!
VESL awarded research grant by SES
9th July 2008
VESL has been awarded a grant from the Society of Educational Studies (SES) to look at the effects volunteering overseas can have on UK teachers' development and classroom practice. The project will take place over the course of the next academic year with the report due for publication in the summer of 2009.
VESL would be very keen to hear from any teachers who have volunteered overseas and would like to contribute to this research. Please contact tom@vesl.org for more details.
New Thailand in-country co-ordinator
29th June 2008
VESL is pleased to announce the appointment of its Chiang Rai Coordinator - Mr Kiattichai Yanarangsee (Nueng) and his co-coordinator Ajarn Pongsi. VESL is delighted to welcome both to the team and looks forward to working with them over the coming years.
VESL would also like to thank our representatives in Bangkok, Khun Noke and Alice and Alf Collet, whose help setting up the new programme has been invaluable.
Teaming up with MMU
25th June 2008
VESL is delighted to team up with Manchester Met University to launch a new joint project called 'Challenge India'. In August 2008 the first set of Manchester Met volunteers will be heading out to Andhra Pradesh; one group will be working in a hospice for children with HIV/AIDS and the other group will be teaching English in a school for orphans.
The project has been organised in partnership with the volunteering department at Manchester Met - CoMMUni. To find out more about CoMMUni visit - www.communi.org.uk.
Training
10th June 2008
We would just like to say thanks to Clara Hebblethwaite and Jo Taylor for helping to run another successful training event. The feedback from the volunteers was tremendous and your help was greatly appreciated.
Justgiving success
10th May 2008
The new fundraising pages with justgiving.com have proved to be a fantastic success. A few volunteers have raised well over their target; Millicent Scott in particular deserves an extra special thanks for successfully raising over £1500 and counting! We'd also like to send a huge thank you to Janet & Stuart Wild who've very kindly set up a fundraising page for their friends and family to donate to VESL for their 25th wedding anniversary next month.
New Projects in Thailand
15th February 2008
Tom Harrison has just returned from setting up VESL's new projects in Thailand.
VESL aims to get away from the tourists and is setting up projects in rural areas, where they are most needed and volunteers will get an opportunity to really have that 'Thai experience'.
Working alongside the Thai Education Department, VESL has chosen Chiang Rai Province to send its first volunteers to. These projects include schools situated along the Mekong River, in the famous Golden Triangle; one school actually overlooks Burma and Laos! The area is famous for its fantastic scenery, hill tribes and history. Volunteers will be based at local schools, running teaching programmes and clubs for the local children (many are from the hill tribes).
If you would like to apply to volunteer in Thailand please download our application form - click here. Remember the deadline for the summer '08 programme is 7th March '08, however, we will also be running longer term (3 month +) projects in Thailand throughout the year for those of you with more time available.
VESL Joins Facebook
1st February 2008
VESL has now joined the social networking revolution and created its own Facebook page. Members are now able to become 'fans' of VESL and help us spread news of all our hard work to your own extended friendship networks. We get so many people saying 'a friend of mine told me about VESL' that it just seemed to make perfect sense.
We've uploaded a selection of last year's photographs so please help us join the dots by tagging yourself in any photos you appear in. We should be adding gallerys of previous years very soon but if you have any photos you'd like to see, either on this site or our facebook page, please email ian@vesl.org.
VESL's facebook page can be found by clicking here.