Project Trust

Project Trust is an education charity based on the Hebridean Isle of Coll in the UK. Since 1967 Project Trust has been sending volunteers to Africa, Asia and the Americas for a wide variety of long-term volunteering projects including teaching, social care work, outward-bound instructing and journalism. All of Project Trust’s volunteers are 17-19 year-old school leavers, with around 300 volunteers from across the UK and mainland Europe going overseas annually. The projects that volunteers are sent to are carefully selected and vetted to ensure the volunteers’ existing skills can be put to good use in their host communities and do not take work from local people.

History

Project Trust was started in 1967 when Nicholas Maclean-Bristol OBE sent three volunteers to a school in Ethiopia. Project Trust proceeded to grow both in terms of the amount of volunteers sent abroad, and the array of destinations they were sent to. For the 2014/15 academic year Project Trust arranged placements for 278 volunteers in 22 countries.

Volunteering

Project Trust is the only volunteering organisation that specialises in sending schools leavers overseas for a full 12 months (with a small proportion of volunteers working overseas on eight month placements). The key reasons cited by Project Trust for this decision are that a year-long project provides:

Countries

In 2014/15 Project Trust sent volunteers to the following countries:

Africa

Asia

Americas

Process

Selection

Prior to being placed on a project overseas, all volunteers attend a Project Trust Selection course to identify the strengths and abilities candidates have to offer. The Selection course runs over four days on the Isle of Coll and has three main functions:

During the course, volunteers stay with local host families on the island and spend the days carrying out a number of activities at Project Trust’s Hebridean Centre, as well as undertaking voluntary activities on the island. The activities are designed to allow applicants to demonstrate a range of different skills and abilities. Of the applicants who attend the selection course, an average of 80-85 percent are matched to a placement overseas based on their skills, interests and experiences.

Fundraising

Each volunteer fundraises to cover the majority of the cost of their volunteering placement. The money raised covers:

Project Trust’s Volunteer Fundraising Support Team help volunteers reach their target amount. They provide a fundraising advice pack, are available to provide volunteers with fundraising advice throughout the time leading up to their placement overseas, and hold fundraising meetings across the UK and the Netherlands for volunteers and their parents.

Training

The Project Trust Training Course is a five-day residential course held on the Isle of Coll before volunteers go overseas. The purpose of the Training Course is to ensure volunteers are best-placed to develop their skills, make the most of their time overseas, deliver a beneficial educational impact in their host community, integrate into their host community/country and remain safe whilst living and working overseas. The volunteers are given training in whatever service it is that they will be providing from qualified staff at Project Trust, whether it is in teaching, social care or outward bound. Training is an opportunity for volunteering partners to get to know one another, as they will be accompanying one another whilst overseas. Volunteers will also have a chance to get to know the other volunteers in their country group and the staff that will be supporting them during their time overseas.

Debriefing

Debriefing is a two-day residential course on the Isle of Coll that takes place a few weeks after the volunteers have returned from their year abroad. The course is an opportunity for volunteers to process the experiences they’ve had, plan how to continue their personal development and settle back into life in Europe. Volunteers get the chance to provide Project Trust with feedback on the charity’s performance, and on their individual projects. Debriefing gives the volunteers and Project Trust an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the volunteers’ achievements.

Accreditation: Open College Network

Since the 2013/14 academic year, all Project Trust volunteers have received a Level Three Foundation Year in Global Volunteering and Citizenship, accredited by One Awards, for completing the volunteering programme.

The modules in the accredited programme cover the activities volunteers participate in through the Project Trust process. They incorporate Selection, Fundraising, Training, Overseas and Debriefing with optional units in Returned Volunteer School-Talker and Global Citizenship Ambassador.

Several volunteers have received offers of places at university conditional on them completing Project Trust’s accredited programme.

One Awards is one of the largest awarding organisations in the UK with 25 years experience. They provide a wide range of qualifications and units under the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).

Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS chief executive, said: “Many universities recognise that volunteering programmes provide participants with valuable skills and experiences that will help them succeed in higher education. UCAS encourages students to include information about volunteering activities in their personal statements . We also include specific reference to Project Trust and the Foundation Year in Global Volunteering and Citizenship in our guidance.”

Global Citizenship

Project Trust’s Global Citizenship programme gives volunteers the chance to share the knowledge they’ve acquired whilst overseas and promote causes they are passionate about. Returned Volunteers go into UK/European schools to delivers workshops, lessons and assemblies on topics they’ve become passionate about whilst volunteering, e.g. HIV/AIDS awareness, women’s rights, language learning.

Notable Alumni

Media Coverage