About Lauren

Lauren volunteered with VESL for the first time in September 2011 for three months in India after completing her degree in Geography from the University of Edinburgh, after doing some other work in the charity sector she joined VESL as the Overseas Programme Assistant for three months before returning to India as a Student Leader. Lauren also visited Thailand and Sri Lanka in summer 2012 to visit projects and see volunteers. As of September Lauren is our first full time member of staff, she is committed to driving VESL forward and has lots of past travel and volunteer experiences to draw on.
Author Archive | Lauren
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Travel Advice: Homesickness

Even the most seasoned travellers get homesick at some point, it may be for 5 minutes, it may for a few days… so don’t worry when you have that wobble and want to go home, it happens to the best of us and normally passes very quickly! Homesickness is a common worry, whether that be […]

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Volunteer Co-ordinator: Dhanya

Dhanya is leading our team of volunteers going to India on June 7th for 4-6 weeks. Dhanya is from Kerala and grew up there until she moved to the UK to complete higher secondary school. Dhanya will be a great source of information for anyone who has questions about Keralan culture! Hi, my name is […]

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Teaching Advice: New Ideas

We have just completed a successful week of training with our volunteers who are going overseas this summer, as part of the workshop we ask volunteers to think about teaching and planning lessons. We had some great suggestions from different people throughout the week that we thought it would be nice to share, check them […]

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Volunteer Co-ordinator: Renata

Renata is the Volunteer Co-ordinator for our team of volunteers heading out to Thailand on the 7th June. Find out more about Renata below… I am a 3rd year forensic science student at Keele University. I have volunteered in the past mostly participating and helping out in sport events but also with a few small organisations […]

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Volunteer Co-ordinator: Ola

Ola is another of our Volunteer Co-ordinators, she will be heading out to Thailand this summer with her team of volunteers. Last year Ola spent four weeks in India with VESL teaching English in a primary school, check out her advice on going overseas below. I’m in my second year of LLB (Law) at MMU. […]

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Fundraising: 24 hour erg

Volunteer Laura, from Keele University, is going to Thailand this summer for six weeks, in order to raise money Laura set up a 24 hour erg marathon with the University Boat Club. Check out how she got on here… Keele University Boat Club was only set up in 2010 and so far has concentrated it’s […]

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Volunteer Co-ordinator: Katie

Katie is volunteer co-ordinator for our team of volunteers going out to Thailand in July this summer, she volunteered with VESL in 2012 for six weeks. Check out her advice below! My name is Katie and I am a team leader for July 2014. I studied Human resource management and law at Keele University, but […]

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Fundraising: Chilli Challenge

One of our Volunteer Co-ordinators, Renata, set herself a chilli challenge – check out her experience! Are you looking for a challenge? Ever wondered how spicy the hottest chilli in the world was? Well, I have got the perfect fundraising idea for you! Why not do a chilli challenge? Not only does this help you […]

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Becky with fellow volunteer Alison in India last year

Volunteer Co-ordinator: Becky

Becky is our Volunteer Co-ordinator for the team of volunteers heading to India on July 19th, last year Becky spent four weeks volunteering in a primary school in India, find out more about her experience and recommendations below! I’m currently a sociology student in my second year at Manchester Metropolitan University. I love photography and art, […]

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Volunteer Case Study: First Football Team

Jake has just completed a 6 month placement in Sri Lanka where he was volunteering in a secondary school run by the government, Jake set up a football team when he was out there and here he updates us on taking his teams to a tournament and how they got on, check it out, it’s […]

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Fundraising: 10km Run

Meet our Greater Manchester 10 kilometre runners, who are running to raise money for VESL… Join us in wishing them good luck! The event is taking place on Sunday 18th May, if you would like to join then just send us an e-mail ([email protected]) and we can put you in touch with the other runners! […]

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Becca with volunteer partner Emma

Volunteer Co-ordinator: Becca

This week is the start of our blogs introducing our Volunteer Co-ordinators to our volunteers, so you get to know who they are and hear their words of wisdom following their time overseas! Our first post comes from Becca who will be leading one of the teams of volunteers going to Thailand in August: Hi, […]

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Volunteer Update: Bob in Sri Lanka IV

You may have been following Bob’s blogs, he is currently in Sri Lanka and in his last week he arranged an English concert at the school to celebrate all the hard work the students had put in over the last six weeks. You can catch up on his previous blogs here.  Today’s blog is the […]

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Fundraising Ideas For The Office

Do you work in an office? There are plenty of fundraising opportunities in an office, so check out our ideas below! Dress down day Everyone loves a dress down day at work so speak to your boss and see if you can arrange a dress down day at some point in the future and ask […]

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