Over the past 6 weeks, a group of young people from across the UK and Nigeria have contributed over 2000 hours of volunteering in Thurrock’s communities.
The volunteers are taking part in Global Xchange, an international youth volunteering programme which offers young people from different countries the opportunity to work together whilst making a practical contribution to the communities in which they are based. Volunteer teams spend part of the programme in an overseas community and part of the programme in a community in the UK in order to foster cross-cultural understanding as they learn about local and global issues.
The programme is ran and fully funded by international development charity, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), and the UK’s body for intercultural relations, the British Council.
The team, who are all aged 18-25, have been living with local families and offering their support to local organisations including TRUST, Batias, the Tenant Participation Team, Grangewaters outdoor education centre and Thurrock Council’s Youth & Connexions service.
Before arriving in Thurrock, the team spent 10 weeks volunteering in Ilorin, Nigeria where they also lived and worked with local organisations and community groups.
For more information Global Xchange, see www.globalxchange.org.uk
