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It's always about the people, isn't it? 

On ICS, you'll meet people on your team, in your host home, in the communities you work with and staff from a different part of the world. You'll see that somethings are exactly the…

ICS volunteer April Quigley absolutely smashed her £800 fundraising target to raise a whopping £1245 before her placement with Raleigh in Nepal. Check out how she did it and her top tips to help you reach your own goal.…

In 2017, VSO’s International Board recruited two Youth Advisers, young returned ICS volunteers with personal experience of VSO’s programming – Takyiwa Danso, 25 from the UK, and Felix Owino, 26, from Kenya – both…

The first thing you need to know about goalball is that it's not just for the visually impaired.

What is goalball?

It’s a team sport in which a ball containing a bell is thrown at the opposing team’s…

So you’ve created your JustGiving page, and now it’s time to share it... But wait, you’re feeling shy? Cheeky? Embarrassed? Nervous?

It's natural to feel this if you’ve never fundraised before, but this 5 step guide will…

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about my experience as an ICS team leader and how it’s shaped who I’ve gone on to become. I’ve been a confident person for as long as I can remember – but I wouldn’t say being in a leadership role…

I spent 12 weeks volunteering in Cambodia this year. Here’s a glimpse from my time there in photos.

For almost 700,000 refugees, Cox’s Bazar in eastern Bangladesh is all they have to call home. For those arriving – with more than half being children – lasting trauma and a lack of education continues to define…

Fundraising can be a daunting experience (we hear ya!). But, we’re lucky over at ICS HQ because we get to hear stories of inspirational volunteers achieving the one thing they thought they couldn’t and hitting (or often exceeding)…

On July 24, 2018, The UK Department for International Development and the Government of Kenya will jointly host the first-ever Global Disability Summit in London.

ICS will be there ensuring that young…

More than a quarter of the world’s countries belong to the Commonwealth.

It’s a diverse network that spans the global north and south. It’s a unique platform that can influence decisions affecting a huge…

I live in Uganda. As a woman here, 60% of us have experienced violence in our lifetime. One in five of us have suffered physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner in the last year. And one in four in…

It’s that time of year again! A year of skipping lectures to have a lovely lie in and putting off essays to the last minute comes back to bite. EXAMS!! But, fear not! With a little careful planning and creativity there’s no reason…

At 18, Keah Mcilwain was volunteering with ICS in Nepal when the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the remote village of Sotipasal, in the central district of Lamjung. Keah and her fellow volunteers…

Before I volunteered with VSO ICS in 2015, I was completely lost.

I had no sense of direction, no focus, and the future for me was blurred. Although I’d graduated from university, I didn’t know where to…

Your story is more likely to be published in your local media if you provide up to three images with your press release, in which you can be clearly seen. 

Please upload your photos to Imgur or a similar…

Every year the WOW Festival at London’s Southbank brings together some of the world’s most inspiring women to take a closer look at the issues affecting women globally and celebrate the leaps being made to tackle…

© Bright Bosu-Tekpor Bright installed a well in his local community to ensure they have access to safe and clean water…

VSO ICS alumni Deborah Torr, 24, never expected the light-hearted water saving campaign she started while at university to attract so much international media attention.

So this is it. You’ve got your ICS place, you smashed the assessment day and even managed to get your vaccinations without too much of a fuss. You feel invincible!

Then you take a look at your Just Giving page and it’s not…

When you think of a board of trustees, what image comes to mind? A middle-aged white man?

Well, that’s grounded in some truth. A 2017 study looking at charity trusteeships in the UK found that of 3,500…

When Nigerian ICS volunteer Kenechukwu 'KC' Ogbuagu, 25, started West Africa’s first board game convention back in 2016, he knew he was onto something big. Two years and his first crowdfunded event later and he’s…

© ICS / VSO / Peter Caton Volunteer Samira's found her calling in supporting the voiceless…

ICS social media

Follow the ICS social media pages to conect with like-minded young people around the globe, see what youth volunteers are up to on placement, and find out about opportunities as soon as sign up opens.

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So you’re back home after your placement and raring to go! Well, fundraising is one of the best ways to support a charity you care about. And there’s no doubt you can do it – you’ve already fundraised for your…

Are you a budding entrepreneur? Do you want to change the world for the better? Why not start a social enterprise.

Social enterprises tackle social and environmental issues with commercial strategies –…

Rebecca Pearce spent three months volunteering in Tanzania with Raleigh International. While she was there, she used her love for photography to capture moments in her host home and her project, leaving them…

The biggest holiday cash-cow is fast approaching and we want you to have a slice of the takings. That is right, Valentine’s Day is happening on February 14th. Here are a few ideas to help you maximise your fundraising on and around…

Every single ICS placement is different. Whether its because it’s based in a new setting, that you will meet new people, or work on different projects that will challenge you. But the one that’s for sure – is…

Selling cakes, car boot sales, dinner parties and bucket collections. Whatever the idea, whatever the season, ICS volunteers are engaged in fundraising. Have you ever stopped and asked yourself why you fundraise and what you really…

For Paul Asiawon, 24, ICS taught him to see disability in a different way. After spending his International Service ICS placement supporting other people with disabilities to fully engage with the community, he’s…

Money makes the world go round. With entrepreneurship making up one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, doing business responsibly is key to creating lasting change.

For Matthew, Jennifer, Luis and…

We followed a group of ICS volunteers on their placement in Ashanti, Ghana. Here is some of the things they they got up to...

Supporting the community

All volunteers on placement work to  support a local…

When Kenyan VSO ICS volunteer Felix Owino, 26, visited London last month as part of his new role as Youth Advisor to the VSO Board, he saw something he wasn’t expecting to see.

People with no home, living…

Welcome to 2018. 

Do you have any New Year resolutions?

Maybe you’ve resolved to do something to tackle a global problem like climate change, or something to improve your local…

Can’t keep your new year’s resolution? Use your Fundraising Support Team’s new year’s resolutions to keep your fundraising on track!

Having volunteered with Tearfund ICS once, Mtambo returned as an ICS Team Leader in the summer of 2015. He led a team of UK and South African volunteers in the township of Chesterville, near Durban. The…

22-year-old Charlotte Curry from Langport, Somerset will be having a rather different Christmas dinner this year – swapping her sister’s thai curry for a traditional Nepalese meal while on her VSO ICS placement…

18-year-old Kathryn Cook from Cambridgeshire is a VSO ICS volunteer based in Jatan, India. The placement is working towards female and youth empowerment, and to improving the government-run nurseries. Kathryn…

This year’s been big for ICS. Around the world, volunteers like you have worked in communities from Nepal to Nicaragua, supporting people living in some of the most challenging circumstances.

Here are just some of our…

Are you in the midst of an ICS fundraising frenzy? Have you planned an amazing event and want to get some extra support?

Engaging with the media is a good way to let more people know what you’re doing and why, and might…

Takyiwa Danso, 25, London

Takyiwa has extensively campaigned and advocated for youth participation in key decision-making…