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Media releases > VSO celebrates 50 years of Bristolians volunteering overseas

Today (7 March 2008), VSO marks 50 years of Bristolians volunteering in developing countries by celebrating Bristol’s volunteering footprint on the world. VSO is the world's leading international development organisation working through skilled volunteers and, as part of its festivities, will host an anniversary event in Bristol on Saturday 8 March. The event will be addressed by Jonathan Dimbleby, VSO President; Nicholas Evans, former volunteer and best selling author of the Horse Whisperer; and Kerry McCarthy, MP for Bristol East and recent VSO volunteer.

From Belize to Bosnia, Cambodia to Cameroon, Macedonia to Malaysia, 468 residents of Bristol have volunteered in 52 countries in the 50 years since VSO was set up. During that time, the type of person volunteering has changed greatly to meet differing needs. From the original ‘gap year’ students of the 1950s to highly experienced volunteers today with an average age of 41, VSO volunteers skills have progressed from a keenness to do something worthwhile to a much more strategic emphasis on tangible, transferable professional skills. Indeed, volunteers from Bristol have shared skills and experience right across the globe from occupations as diverse as plastic surgeons, teachers, sanitation engineers, boat builders, livestock advisors and geo-hazard advisors.

Bristolians, along with volunteers from an increasing number of countries, have done much to help VSO meet changing global needs across the last five decades:

1950s: Two Bristol volunteers, Charles Martin and Victor Barley, were amongst VSO’s first ever group, working in Malaysia in 1958
1960s: VSO works with victims of leprosy and supports countries preparing for decolonisation.
1970s: VSO focuses more on professional skills as it places its last school leaver overseas.
1980s: The average age of a VSO volunteer rises to 28 and 1,125 volunteers are overseas.
1990s: VSO is invited to help rebuild the destroyed education system in Rwanda, post genocide. Two of the first 12 volunteers to arrive in Rwanda were from Bristol, both of whom were teachers.
2000s: VSO begins recruiting volunteers from Kenya, Uganda, India and the Philippines in recognition that people living in developing countries also have skills and experience to share and a right to participate in volunteering.

Jonathan Dimbleby, President of the VSO said:
"I've been involved with VSO for many years. What is essential, and what I've seen time and time again, is the on the ground partnership and genuine sharing of skills. The impact on the individuals and organisations with whom we work is far greater and far more sustained than you might imagine of a charity of VSO's size. Relationships are forged that endure. Relationships that are extremely useful in both countries.
There is no question that people who do VSO find it a life changing experience, as anyone who has done VSO will testify. Whether they belong to an earlier generation when volunteering was done in a much more simple way, or whether they are high fliers from business or public sector doing a short term placement today, they are hugely affected by it and it changes their world perspective. They may have been sympathetic before, but after volunteering they see the country they volunteered in as part of a set of greater challenges globally. They become ambassadors for internationalism and this could not be more important than now, amongst the backdrop of global challenges we face."

Kerry McCarthy, MP for Bristol East and recent VSO volunteer said:
"I learnt from my own VSO volunteering experience what it's like to live and work in one of the poorest countries in the world. Not only was it an interesting experience, it was a worthwhile experience.

Volunteers from Bristol have made an invaluable contribution to the lives of vulnerable people across the developing world. As a city, we deserve to be proud of all that we have achieved and the difference that we have made. I urge all those with skills to offer or support to give to get in touch with VSO and find out how they can help make the next 50 years as significant as the last."

To find out more about volunteering with VSO and the 50th anniversary event on Saturday go to: www.vso.org.uk or call 020 8780 7500.

ENDS.

For more information, footage and stills or to set up an interview with Jonathan Dimbleby or a returned volunteer please contact George Ames, 020 7403 2230, george@forster.co.uk

Notes to Editors

VSO is the world's leading independent international development organisation working through skilled volunteers around the world.
www.vso.org.uk
For Bristol’s volunteering footprint over the last 50 years and case studies see separate sheet.
Archive broadcast quality footage and stills are available of VSO through the ages.
VSO’s anniversary event in Bristol will take place on Saturday 7 March 2008 at The Watershed, Bristol. Jonathan Dimbleby, president of the VSO will host the celebrations and which will include footage from around the world, interviews on stage with guests including VSO’s Ghana country director, Nicholas Evans, former volunteer and best selling author of The Horse Whisperer and an address from Kerry McCarthy, MP for Bristol East and recent VSO volunteer.

Links

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