At VSO, we believe in taking a stand for the good of international aid and development.
UK aid saves a life every two minutes. In the past 5 years, UK aid has:
- Supported six million girls into education
- Helped to ensure 5.6 million safe births
- Vaccinated over 76 million children from infectious diseases including measles, polio, yellow fever and cholera
- Improved the access of over 60 million people to nutrition
These are immense achievements that everyone should be aware of, and yet they can often be overlooked during political debates and in media coverage.
At VSO, we seek to champion the value of aid and development, through facilitating our supporters to spread the word about the good done by UK aid, and the particular impact of international volunteering with development and humanitarian work.
How you can get involved
Returned VSO volunteers in the UK are a passionate network of supporters from all walks of life, and they play an invaluable role in our political and public campaigning.
We rely on our returned volunteers and supporters to make the case for the value of international volunteering to MPs and Ministers, with hundreds of former VSO volunteers getting involved in lobbying the UK public and politicians on issues related to aid and development.
Our supporters have spoken at political party conferences, lobbied their MPs about the future of VSO’s funding, and helped to mobilise public support for 0.7% spending on aid and development.
Our returned volunteers are powerful voices for the good done by UK aid, able to speak from experience and from the heart, while drawing on their expertise and hands-on understanding of the UK’s development work.
Get involved in future campaigns
If you would like to get involved, please sign up for the newsletter to be kept informed of future campaigns and opportunities to speak up for UK aid.
Lobby your MP
As an organisation which receives significant UK government funding, we value our support across the political spectrum, meeting frequently with MPs and Ministers to make the case for our work, and, when we are able, organising visits for MPs to see our programmes in action.
We always encourage our supporters to speak to their MPs about the value of VSO’s work, and can support you to lobby your MP – just drop enquiry@vsoint.org a line with the subject heading ‘MP meeting’ and we’ll be in touch!
Parliamentary volunteering
VSO has run a successful ‘Parliamentary Volunteering’ programme since 2005, which has taken over 50 MPs and Peers from all parties to volunteer on our programmes overseas.
Our Parliamentary Volunteers carry out specialised short-term placements which draw on their skills to assist with our programmes and with our policy, influencing and advocacy work in our partner countries.
Lord McConnell, former First Minister of Scotland
Lord Jack McConnell has completed three placements as a Parliamentary Volunteer with VSO in the Philippines.
In January 2024, Lord McConnell supported the launch of a new phase of the ACTIVE programme in a former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camp. VSO and partners have been supporting decommissioned combatants in MILF camps to transform them into peaceful and productive communities.
Read Lord McConnell's reflections on his visit.
"When I first visited the Philippines with VSO in early 2014, I could have never imagined the ongoing friendships and working relationships that would have developed over the last decade, particularly those at the heart of one of the few successful peace processes in our divided world today."
Robert Millar in Zambia
Robin Millar, Member of Parliament for Aberconwy, Wales
Robin visited Zambia in 2022 as our first Parliamentary volunteer since the Covid pandemic to see our work in Samfya district. He met with decision makers to raise the profile of issues around sexual and reproductive health, employability and youth inclusion. Watch the video to hear Robin's impressions.
So I think what I've seen here is that VSO working with the Zambian government with support of the British government and others is building a strong infrastructure."
Kate Green MP, Shadow Minister for Education
Kate volunteered with us in Rwanda, working with the National Union of Disability Organisations Rwanda (NUDOR), and the National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), on a placement where she met government officials and MPs to lobby them on disability issues.
I learnt as much from my visit as the knowledge I was able to share with my hosts about the UK. Indeed, many of the issues we face are the same in both countries – the stigma and social isolation faced by disabled people, the poor health, educational and employment outcomes they experience, and worries about assessments for benefits and support"
Lord Hodgson, Conservative Peer
Conservative Peer Lord Hodgson volunteered with us in Tanzania in 2016, where he drew on his long career in business to advise Tanzanian SMEs on how to attract investment opportunities, providing detailed planning and advice.
I was able to bring my experience and knowledge of attracting investment and sound business practice to provide detailed advice on their planning and work.
For those parliamentarians who would like to see Africa or Asia away from the diplomatic circuit and examine close up the challenges to regional development I strongly recommend a parliamentary volunteering placement."
Alastair Carmichael, former Secretary of State for Scotland
Part of a VSO project in Cameroon working for Aide Legale Liberale, an organisation which aims to provide free legal representation for those who would otherwise not be able to afford it.
In the course of Thursday alone we saw orphans driven from their homes by relatives; widows deprived of their property rights on inheritance; a victim of assault in police custody; a human rights activist who had got on the wrong side of a powerful local man beaten and shot for his pains; representatives of minority ethnic communities suffering discrimination and persecution and much more besides."
Baroness Barker
Worked with Parliamentarians across Southern Africa to help them argue for evidence-based policies on issues of sexual and reproductive health and child marriage.
Hon. Beatriz Chaguala MP, from Mozambique, was so inspired by Baroness Barker’s training on child marriage that she replicated the training in her own community, working with over 600 communty leaders to raise awareness about the harmful impact of early and forced marriage.
All across the developing world, there are thousands of people with great ideas trying to do good work. But it's only when the voluntary sector, those who are in elected positions, civil servants and professional agencies all work together [that] you get lasting change. Politicians very rarely get the chance to talk to people and share experiences and learn from one another. It is immensely valuable.
More on our influencing and advocacy work
Regional and global advocacy
We make sure that the experience of volunteers, partners and marginalised people are heard and counted at regional and global levels.