Thank you!

Thank you to our 2012 supporters…

We have had a huge amount of support from different organisations over 2012, so we would like to say a HUGE thank you to all of those who have supported our volunteers and made donations to VESL. Trusts and Foundations We would like to thank the following trusts and foundations that have supported our volunteers […]

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Where to find VESL in 2012

Where to find VESL in 2012…

Interested in finding out more about VESL? We are attending several Careers and Volunteering Fairs across England and Scotland at universities from October 2012 and we have several Selection Events coming up. Check out our list below to find out where you can find us! (more…)

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Before you start calling...

How to stay in touch…

A huge thank you to all our summer 2012 volunteers, we have had amazing feedback from the in country managers and hosts! We really hope that you will continue to support VESL and stay in touch with our news and events. There are numerous ways you can do this once you have returned from overseas, […]

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Spending some time with my host family on the beach

Student Leader Diary – India 2012

For the next five weeks I am a Student Leader for the volunteers that are in India this summer, my next couple of blog posts will reflect on this role and my time in India. Arrival in India My first week in India has finished all too quickly and it has been an amazing, busy week! […]

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Fruit Stall in Colombo

VESL’s visit to Sri Lanka 2012

Arriving in Sri Lanka I arrived in Sri Lanka half asleep in the afternoon, I was expecting the chaos that greeted me when I first arrived in India (hundreds of people pushing and shoving to complete forms and get through immigration) but arriving in Sri Lanka was unbelievably calm, I queued for immigration and was through […]

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globe map india

VESL’s 2012 Overseas Visits…

I am very lucky as I am off on an adventure this summer with VESL. I am spending seven weeks overseas visiting VESL projects, I will spend a week in both Sri Lanka and Thailand and I am also a Student Leader for the India programme. I leave on Sunday and have just got back from […]

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Lauren Pluss at the Southern Tip of India, Kerala, 2011

VESL Appoints New Programme Manager

VESL is extremely pleased to announce that we have appointed Lauren Pluss as our new Programme Manager. Lauren is a past VESL volunteer and returned this year volunteering as an overseas programme assistant.  Lauren’s first experience with VESL was on a project teaching English in a fishing community school in Kerala for 3 months in 2011. […]

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How Many Bananas? Thailand, 2011 (by Thomas Grunwell)

New 2011 Photos

We’ve been able to collate photos from a number of our 2011 volunteers and have just added 4 new photo galleries… Kerala 2011 Thanks go to Elaine Abili & Kath McGuire for their photos from the summer of 2011.  Elaine was helping to develop a new project in Southern Kerala for 3 months from June […]

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Alex Quinn - GapTravel Guide 2012

VESL Volunteer Featured in Gap Year Travel Guide

Alex Quinn has been featured in a 2012 Gap Year Travel Guide…   Alex is one of our long term volunteers in Northern Thailand on an 11 month project that began in Autumn 2011.  Alex has been teaching English in a local primary school and also supports a special needs school near Chiang Rai. In […]

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Elaine Abili, Kerala, 2011

A review of 2011

2011 has certainly been a busy year for VESL… here are a few highlights from the year : Kerala We had great success with our new programme working in schools within fishing communities in Kerala (South India).  All of this year’s volunteers did a magnificent job in helping to lay down the foundations of this programme.  […]

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global-educators

Effects of Short-term Volunteering on Qualified Teachers

The Society of Educational Studies (SES) funded VESL to undertake a research project looking at the effects on attitudes and practice of teachers undertaking voluntary projects overseas. ‘Global Educators’ Report Summary Schools and teachers are increasingly being asked to use a global outlook in the classroom, and to appreciate the issues of identities and diversity […]

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student-lead-projects

Student Leader Projects Underway

We’ve received a great response from universities to our new Student Leadership Programme. After receiving several notes of interest from past volunteers we were been able to establish Student Lead Projects within MMU, Keele, Edge Hill, Aston and Birmingham Universities and things are looking very encouraging for 2012 (fingers crossed). The past volunteers who are […]

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Gap Years Grown Ups

VESL Volunteers Profiled in Adult Gap Year Guide

Two of VESL’s past volunteers in India and Sri Lanka have been profiled in Susan Giffith’s new book, ‘Gap Year’s for Grown Ups’

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'King Coconut' (Kath McGuire), Volunteer Sri Lanka, 2009

Past Volunteers Join VESL

We’re extremely pleased to announce that two past volunteers have joined the VESL team; Kath McGuire will be producing new content for the volunteer blog and Caroline Abbotts will be helping to produce a newsletter for us…

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