Volunteer teacher, mentor and student
Paul Wambugu/Obscuramedia

Annual report

This year, many of the global COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were gradually lifted. For countries and communities already facing considerable challenges, there is a huge job to be done to make up lost ground in health, education, and livelihoods.

 

Download the 2022-23 annual report (PDF, 16.8 MB)

Our year in numbers

7,786

7,786 people volunteered with VSO, working with communities in 35 countries.

Our volunteering for development approach

10.9 million

10.9 million people were reached, including nearly 7.4 million indirectly and over 3.5 million directly.

Our work

2022-23 financial review

In 2022/23, our income levels increased after two years of sharp decline as we have successfully diversified our donor portfolio. The decline of the past two years followed the decrease in institutional donor funding during COVID-19 and a significant reduction in FCDO funding subsequent to the ending of the International Citizen Scheme (ICS) in February 2021 and the grant received to fund VfD programmatic work. Although FCDO remains a significant income source, the overall proportion has decreased in 2022/23 from 43% to 32% (of which the FCDO ACTIVE grant represents 22%). Diversifying our donor portfolio remains a key objective as we enter 2023/24.

Our total income for the year was £40.4 million, and our total spend on charitable activities was £34.1 million.

We are immensely proud of what we have achieved over the last year. This is only possible with your support. There is still so much work to do if we are to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. With your help, we can be confident about fulfilling our plans by working to create a fair world for everyone."

Philip Goodwin
Chief Executive Officer

Income

Expenditure

Vanessa outside her home

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Stories from our year

Lawrence Ochieng

'Here's to every volunteer' - an inspiring song from volunteer and artist Larry Dwayne

Known in the music industry as Larry Dwayne, Lawrence Ochieng is a Kenyan volunteer, hip-hop artist, and activist who uses his platform to raise awareness about climate change. Listen to his original song, 'Volunteer'.

Dev accepting his Active Citizenship Award

Meet the 2024 Volunteer Impact Award winners

Our annual Volunteer Impact Awards celebrates the incredible impact made by VSO volunteers across the world. Learn more about our four 2024 winners.

Melba Pyne and Claude Ndayizeye on a call

Video blog: In conversation with two education volunteers in Rwanda

Melba from Colombia and Claude from Rwanda are two very different education specialists with one thing in common, they both volunteered with VSO in Rwanda. We brought these two volunteers together to share their reflections on what it was like to volunteer with VSO. Watch the videos now.