Andrew Durrant and Sandeep Rajgopal volunteered in a rural hill tribe school this summer. The school they volunteered at made a thank you video for them, check it out to get an idea of what it would be like to volunteer in Thailand! (more…)
VESL Volunteer Blog
Fundraising Idea: Santa Dash
It is November and although I am sure you don’t want to start thinking about Christmas (the television advertisements and the Christmas light arrivals may disagree), it is probably the BEST opportunity to fundraise and to make a big dent in your fundraising target! So over the next seven weeks we will be bringing you a Christmas […]
Volunteer Diary: Don’t Think: ACT!
“If you are thinking about volunteering with VESL my message would be don’t think – act! You are guaranteed an incredibly rewarding experience you will never forget. The schools here in Sri Lanka desperately need more volunteers to help improve their English speaking and listening, and your efforts will be more than appreciated. Come and […]
Fundraising Idea: Non-Uniform Day/Dress Down Day
An easy way to raise a couple of hundred pounds! “It felt great to go back to my old School, they were more than happy to help out and I raised almost £300 in one day!!!” James Hallworth, Student Leader, Thailand, 2012 Why do a non-uniform day? This event gives you the opportunity of raising […]
Travelling Tip: Toilets
Kath McGuire has recent an excellent and insightful post about how to use toilets in Asia. Most recently Kath spent the summer in Thailand as the Country Coordinator for our Summer volunteers and found that a lot of volunteers were worried about using squat toilets. Kath has travelled and lived in India, Sri Lanka and […]
Video Diary: Life in Thailand
Jodie Thackray volunteered with VESL in Thailand in Summer 2012, here she has put together an excellent video of her time there, from teaching in school to eating crickets! Jodie recently graduated from MMU and is a freelance film-maker, photographer and artist – check out her website. Thailand 2012 VESL from Jodie Thackray on Vimeo. […]
Fundraising Idea: Bag Packing
Bag packing is a great way to raise money for your target and it is relatively easy! Why do bag packing? It involves relatively little preparation, past volunteers have been able to raise over £300 from one days bag packing and if you are going overseas as part of a university group you can do […]
Fundraising Idea: Car Boot Sale
Car boot sales are a great way to raise money, even if you aren’t a hoarder you can ask your friends and family to do a clear out and donate their unwanted items to you to help you raise money. Autumn is a great times to hold a car boot sale before the winter rain […]
A day in the life: India Project
Olivia Higginson is currently in India on a three month project and has written an excellent article below about what she does on a day to day basis… Morning 7:00am Wake up. The family are normally all up. Ama (host mother) has often been up since 5am preparing vegetables and cooking for the day. My two […]
Dealing with reverse culture shock…
What is reverse culture shock? If you have volunteered with VESL for a long period of time you may find the shock of coming back to the UK bigger than the initial culture shock in your host community. Reverse culture shock can be harder to deal with as it is unexpected and can occur even […]
Fundraising Idea: Events & Occasions
A great way to fundraise is to hold an event on a special occasion or holiday, so we have put together a list of different holidays and events throughout the year so you can start planning your fundraising events now… 1st January – New Years Day – time to think of those new years resolutions, […]
Case Study: Fundraising Experience
Sarah Redgewell volunteered with VESL and below explains the different ways she raised money to reach her fundraising target, most importantly Sarah was able to have fun and fit in the fundraising around her final year of study at university! “At first the thought of raising my contribution was fairly daunting, especially because I had […]
Video Diary: Thailand
Nedyalko Dervenkov volunteered with VESL in Thailand this summer and put together the following video for his leaving ceremony at school, check it out to get a taste of what it would be like to volunteer in Thailand. Attend one of our Information and Selection events to find out more about volunteering in Thailand and […]
A-Z of Fundraising
The idea of fundraising putting you off volunteering with VESL? Don’t let it! We have decided to be a little bit creative here at VESL and create our very own Prezi! Check it out below for 25 (we couldn’t think of anything for Z!) great ideas on how you can reach your fundraising target!! Not […]
