About us

The story so far

The Global Xchange Programme is based on a model of youth exchanges originally developed in Canada over thirty years ago. Known as World Youth, these exchanges were designed to be fully reciprocal, involving young people from the developed and developing world in equal numbers, and working on community projects in both areas.

This model was brought to the UK in 1999 by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), who ran youth exchanges for several years with funding from the Millennium Commission. In early 2004 VSO, the British Council, and Community Service Volunteers (CSV) entered into a partnership to continue developing this model, and the Global Xchange partnership was born. Since 2007, VSO and the British Council have been developing Global Xchange to become what it is today.

Since its creation, Global Xchange has run twenty-nine exchanges with the UK:

GX1, March - August 2005:

  • Bristol, UK with Bandung, Indonesia
  • Glasgow, UK with Ibadan, Nigeria
  • Torfaen, UK with Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan
  • Bradford, UK with Bukhara, Uzbekistan
  • Luton, UK with Mindanao, Phillipines

GX2, September 2005 - March 2006

  • Birmingham, UK with Jos, Nigeria
  • Kings Lynn, UK with Kupang, Indonesia
  • Hounslow, UK with Piliyondela, Sri Lanka
  • Selby, UK with Multan, Pakistan
  • Glasgow, UK with Anjani Sain, India

GX3, March - September 2006

  • Glasgow, UK with Malang, Indonesia
  • Bristol, UK with Calabar, Nigeria
  • Bradford, UK with Mindanao, Philippines

GX4, September 2006 - March 2007

  • Crawley, UK with Tilonia, India
  • Hounslow, UK with Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan
  • Edinburgh, UK with Calabar, Nigeria
  • Birmingham, UK with Makassar, Indonesia
  • Selby, UK with Queenstown, South Africa

GX5, March 2007 - September 2007

  • Davao City, Philippines - Southampton, UK
  • Mombasa, Kenya - Stansted, UK
  • Ekwendeni, Malawi - Caithness, UK
  • Sukhbaatar, Mongolia - Luton, UK
  • Iligan/Cagayan de Oro, Philippines - Bradford, UK

GX6, September 2007 - March 2008

  • Hounslow, UK with Rangpur, Bangladesh
  • Brighton, UK with Lafia, Nigeria
  • Southwark, UK with Elmina, Ghana
  • Birmingham, UK with Kavre, Nepal
  • Truro, UK with Multan, Pakistan
  • Rhondda Cynon Taf, UK, with Kano, Nigeria

GX7, March 2008 - September 2008

  • Communities: Glasgow (UK) & Aleppo (Syria)
    Theme: Social Inclusion & Youth Leadership
  • Communities: Stansted (UK) & Padang (Indonesia)
    Theme: Intercultural Dialogue
  • Communities: Newham (UK) & Iligan (Philippines)
    Theme: Peace and Development
  • Communities: Northern Ireland (UK) & Mombasa (Kenya)
    Participation & Governance and Inter Cultural Dialogue
  • Communities: Luton (UK) & Assuit (Egypt)
    Theme: Youth Participation and Social Inclusion
  • Communities: Manchester (UK) & Salima (Malawi)
    Theme: Social Inclusion
  • Communities: Swansea (UK) & Mooiplaas (South Africa)
    Theme: HIV & AIDS and Youth Leadership