About
The Platform2 scheme ended its overseas programme in December 2010 and the last groups of volunteers departed from the UK in October 2010.
Information about the Platform2 destinations can be found here.
A vital part of the programme is now seeing our returned volunteers creatively telling their story once back in the UK, and raising awareness of the global development issues they encountered while overseas. These activities are continuing and will be documented on this websIte.
Platform2 has always been for people who wouldn't otherwise get the chance to volunteer abroad, and the overseas trips were therefore fully-funded for the volunteer.
Watch this 5 minute video to get a feel for what the scheme has been all about:
Volunteering
All of the work the volunteers took part in was locally operated and supervised, beneficial to the local community and sustainable, offering a structured placement. Projects included the following kinds of work: constructing community buildings such as schools, toilet facilities and community centres with a local team; renovating existing buildings; developing new and existing gardens, play areas and sports pitches; caring for and teaching children in orphanages, kindergartens and schools; building infrastructure at ecological centres and helping community school groups to learn about protecting the environment.
Platform2 volunteers travelled out and back in groups of 12 to 16 people and either stayed in local family homes or in dormitories. But Platform2 isn't all about the trip! Now that they are home, Platform2 returnees are being supported to make a difference in their communities by sharing their experiences. Before travelling they were all given ideas of how they might want to express their experience - through writing, poetry, music, art, photography, dance... and when they returned the majority of them attended a three day workshop with other volunteers where they shared ideas and developed a plan of how they wanted to tell people about what they had experienced.
The good news is it is not to late to join this movement of young people eager to be the change they want to see in the world. Although Platform2 can no longer offer you a volunteering experience overseas there is still plenty you can do here in the UK. We can give you lots of information and resources about global development issues and offer you training and opportunities to get involved in fundraising and campaigning. We just need you to get in touch!
Who Runs the Programme?
Department for International Development
The Department for International Development (DFID) is the part of the UK Government which makes sure aid gets to poor countries and helps to bring poor people out of poverty. Thanks to UKaid from the British people, we help lift 3 million people out of poverty every year.
Our contribution helps fights diseases, provide education and helps poor countries cope with the terrible effects of climate change and prevent war and conflict. We also provide food, shelter and medical care in war situations or when humanitarian disasters strike.
Our collective effort with the rest of the world has helped 40 million more children go to school, 3 million get life-preserving HIV and AIDS drugs and 400 million people lift themselves from poverty in the last 10 years.
Recently, we introduced a new logo, UKaid, to show you how the UK government is investing in development to improve people’s lives and fight global poverty.
Christian Aid
Christian Aid is a development agency rooted in the communities of the UK and built around volunteers with a mission to expose the scandal of poverty, help the poorest of the poor and work to change the structures which give rise to poverty. We work with people of all and no faiths, and have a track record in the UK of working both within and without faith settings.
BUNAC
BUNAC is a leading provider of volunteering and work abroad opportunities. One of BUNAC's primary objectives is to encourage interest and understanding in overseas cultures among British students and young people; and to encourage interest and understanding in Britain among students and young people who travel to Britain on reciprocal programmes.
BUNAC has been operating work abroad experiences for 45 years. During this time, over 1/4 million students and young people have participated in their programmes.
Ctrl.Alt.Shift
Ctrl.Alt.Shift is a UK-based youth initiative set up to engage the next generation in the fight against social and global injustice; tackling issues of climate change, poverty, human rights, corruption, HIV stigma and gender empowerment through their events, competitions, street team reporting, university campus activities, magazines and online community.
Spread the word
Site RSS/XML feed
