Volunteer Contribution
VESL is a registered charity and not run for profit.
Everyone within VESL has personal experience as an overseas volunteer and understands the difficulties associated with finding an organisation that you can trust to organise your project well, keep you safe and be transparent with its costs.
We strive to keep costs to a minimum without compromising on our aims or the level of support we provide for our volunteers.
VESL asks all volunteers to contribute towards the costs of their placement.
This contribution is realistic and directly reflects the costs of setting up, supporting and running an overseas programme.
The contributions are :
- £900 : 4 – 6 week project
- £1350 : 3 month project
- £2100 : 6 month project
- £3600 : 12 month project
Nb. £250 of this contribution is required as a deposit, payable when you accept your project.
The remainder must be raised or paid no later than 4 weeks prior to your project start date.
(These are guide figures – Any project length between 4 weeks and 12 months can be arranged)
Fundraising
Fundraising can sound daunting, but volunteers soon find ways to fundraise and have fun doing it! Many volunteers are able to raise the full cost of their placement.
Volunteers get a copy of our ‘Fundraising Guide‘; written by past volunteers, it contains tips on how to successfully raise your contribution.
“My advice is to tell as many people as possible because you might just get money from places you didn’t expect…” - Ellie Livermore, 2010
Justgiving.com
VESL is registered with justgiving.com. Our volunteers are able to setup their own personal fundraising page for free by going to justgiving.com/vesl.
It takes just 5 minutes to setup and people can start helping you fundraise straight away. There are useful widgets to link in your facebook and twitter pages too.
Your volunteer contribution includes :
- hotel for the first night* (close to airport)
- initial transport to project
- accommodation with host during the project
- food budget (given directly to host)
- comprehensive travel and medical insurance (inc. 24 emergency medical assistance line)
- liabilities insurance to cover whilst working in schools
- backup and support from our local in-country co-ordinator / representative
- pre-departure training in the UK, guidance and project setup
- additional in-country induction on arrival
* for Thailand projects we purchase an internal flight from Bangkok to Chiang Rai and pay for a hotel for the first night in Chiang Rai. We ask volunteers to gain their own accommodation in Bangkok if they require it and can recommend places to stay for any budget.
Nb. This contribution does not cover return flights from UK, visa costs or any accommodation / food expense incurred at weekends or away from project during independent travel.
Nb. A volunteer’s insurance cover runs from up to 2 weeks before a project start date and up to a maximum of 2 weeks after a project end date. Any additional time spent overseas must be covered by the volunteers own personal travel insurance.
Detailed Breakdown
What Past Volunteers say about Fundraising
It’s not what you know, sometimes it is who you know…
“I used my grandma’s skill in knitting to help with my fundraising. My grandma hand knitted small Easter chickens with a hole in the bottom which we then stuck Cadbury’s Creme eggs under and sold for £2 each. We made a surprising amount. I also volunteered in a local museum for a while and asked if they would help me raise money for my project. They put me in stocks for the day and charged £1 to throw wet sponges at me… every little bit helps towards the bigger sum.” - Stacey Cawthorne, Thailand Volunteer, 2010
I received a £300 cheque in the post out of the blue!
“My advice is to tell as many people as possible because you might just get money from places you didn’t expect. My friends Grandad just happened to a trustee of a trust and I received a £300 cheque in the post out of the blue because she mentioned my trip in a family newsletter! I also applied for funding from my local authority which had a special funding pot for young people and got another £300. Get your family talking about it too. My mum swapped a quilt she’d made in return for £100 from a guy at her work. I also took part on a fundraising cake sale and we made about £70 in a day. All that along with friends and family being very generous I raised about £1200 in total.” - Ellie Livermore, Volunteer Thailand 2010
It was an amazing fantastic night and I raised £550!
“I did an Open Mic Night and a fancy dress sponsored walk. Both were fantastic and I couldn’t have done without all my friends. For the Open Mic Night I had to book a room and invite as many people as I could! I did a raffle and some games to get more money on the night. I booked a P.A. and make sure I had at least 8 people willing to play/sing/do stand up! It was an amazing fantastic night, I raised £550 at that event. I also organised a fancy dress walk around Edale where I asked everyone to raise at least £10, with the person who raised the most getting a free pint at the pub.” - Emma Warrington, Thailand Volunteer 2010
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