The VSO volunteers recognised on the Royal Birthday Honours list

In 2023, Peter received his Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to International Development. Peter has dedicated over 25% of his life to volunteering with VSO, which first began with a placement in Borneo as a young man in the 1960s, where he worked with local agricultural officers and local communities to improve food production, and later established the first rural agricultural research and training station in Sarawak.

Following his time in Borneo, Peter went on to volunteer as an agricultural teacher in Papa New Guinea in 1999. Here he introduced sustainable rice farming to highland communities and supported the development of a new national curriculum.  Peter carried out five separate placements in Papua New Guinea over the years, where he continued to provide support and capacity building for education leaders. 

In more recent years, Peter volunteered in Cambodia with VSO to develop a vocational education improvement plan in partnership with the Cambodian government. Later in Tanzania he became a Vocational Education Advisor, improving the quality of vocational education in the country and helping to improve job prospects for young Tanzanians.

Chris Evans MBE

Chris was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to international development through the introduction and promotion of sustainable farming practices in rural Nepal. 

Chris first volunteered with VSO in 1985 in the rural district of Jajarkot in Nepal where he helped farming communities to improve their permaculture practices and grow crops more sustainably. Chris founded a training centre which grew organically into a grassroots NGO called the Jajarkot Permaculture Programme with a membership of 12,000 farmers across four districts. 

Three decades on, Chris is working tirelessly to promote permaculture practices. He is working closely with the Himalayan Permaculture Centre (HPC), which is run by trained and motivated farmers from Surkhet district in Nepal, to implement regenerative and sustainable rural development programmes in Nepal.

Back home in the UK, Chris is now the co-owner and director of Applewood Permaculture Centre, a 20-acre smallholding and training centre focused on teaching students around the world permaculture methods and adapting them to their cultural landscape. Chris is now an agroecology e-volunteer with VSO – working with many VSO countries to design and deliver agroecology methods in response to the climate and food insecurity crisis.

My permaculture journey: A sustainable approach to small-scale farming

2022

Mary Watkins, BEM

In March 2022, Mary received her British Empire Medal after being named in the Queen’s 2020 New Year's Honours list for services to education overseas. Mary first volunteered with VSO in Rwanda in 2014, as an advisor at a teacher training college.    

She later joined the Building Learning Foundations (BLF) project as a District Teaching Adviser based in Nyamasheke, where she worked alongside a team of national and international volunteers to deliver training and support to primary teachers in English and mathematics.  

Upon her return to the UK, her volunteering work did not stop as she took on the responsibility of an e-volunteer with VSO. She continued leading on the Numeracy for All project which encourages the making and using of low or no cost teaching materials for primary maths.

Learn more about Mary's time as an e-volunteer

2021

Dr Phil Heywood, MBE

In 2021, Phil received his Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to maternal healthcare overseas. After a long and successful career as an academic and NHS GP, Phil entered his retirement with the mission to keep on giving back.  

His overseas volunteering journey included working in three different countries, including Cambodia, South Sudan, and Myanmar. Across his roles, he drew on his experience in clinical practice to help find sustainable ways to reduce premature and preventable deaths of mothers.

Additionally, he worked with the staff of a midwifery training school to introduce up-to-date and innovative teaching methods. and assisted Ministries of Health develop policies and procedures to improve maternal health.    

Phil has also been an instrumental supporter and fundraiser of VSO. At the age of 69, he skied to the North Pole to raise vital funds for our work. Despite developing frostbite, he still managed to complete more than half of the expedition. He covered all the costs of the venture, and with other sponsorship, has successfully raised more than £25,000 for VSO! 

2019

Ann Marcer, OBE 

As part of the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours, volunteer Ann received an Officer of the British Empire award for her services to UK Aid and young women. While at VSO, she volunteered on the Sisters for Sisters project in Nepal which was centered on empowering and educating girls.

Ann worked tirelessly to overcome barriers such as attitudes to girls’ education and the poor facilities provided for the girls as well as facilitate better lesson-planning with Nepalese teachers. Ann worked with Nepalese women who have completed their education against the odds in Nepal and who now mentor young girls at risk of dropping out of school.

During her placement in Nepal, the 2015 earthquakes impacted the livelihoods of millions of people across the country. Ann stayed in country to continue her work, despite being offered repatriation by VSO, and went on to support schools that had been damaged as a result highlighting her passion to make the classroom an accessible space for everyone.

Carol Carson, OBE

After forty years working as a nurse in Scotland, Carol became a serial volunteer with VSO. This first started in 2007, and she was later awarded an Order of the British Empire for her hard work. Her placements spanned Malawi, South Sudan, and Myanmar, where she helped develop and improve healthcare systems in the local areas where she was working.  

During her time overseas, she used her extensive knowledge and skills to train student nurses and develop a curriculum to raise awareness of health issues. She also worked directly with local nurses to improve the way clinical staff were trained and to increase the quality of healthcare education and provision with aims to strengthen healthcare systems for years to come.  

After a decade of being actively involved in volunteering across the world, Carol has continued to champion VSO’s work. 

2018

Bob Campbell MBE

Dr Bob Campbell MBE was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of The British Empire) in 2018 for his commitment to volunteering and service to the community. From 2006 to 2019 Bob used his professional experience and skills to support VSO’s programmes in an incredible 6 countries Since retiring at 60 Bob’s sole purpose was to volunteer for the rest of his professional life.

Bob’s first VSO placement was in Ethiopia where he worked for over two years, helping to develop a system for quality assurance in higher education. Bob went on to volunteer in Cambodia as an Education Adviser, supporting the development of headteachers and their schools through leadership coaching. In South Sudan, Bob took up three placements one of which was working with the Ministry of Education to support work on school inspection and improvement. Following which Bob worked with VSO Myanmar as an education advisor and student support centre advisor.

Bob went on to undertake several short-term placements in Mozambique. What started out as a small project appealing to the UK government to fund girls’ education, turned into several placements to supporting the development and implementation of the Empowering Adolescent Girls to Earn and Learn (EAGLE) project.  Dr Bob Campbell continues to support the project in Mozambique from his home in the UK.

Learn more about Bob's incredible volunteer journey