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Project Trust, based on the Scottish Inner Hebridean Isle of Coll, is an international volunteering charity for young people. [1] [2] [3]
Established as an education charity since 1967, [1] Project Trust offers young people across the UK, Ireland and Europe [4] international volunteering experiences of 8 or 12 months duration. The aim of the volunteering experiences is to empower young people to develop their confidence, resilience, awareness, and leadership skills.
Until 2019, the charity's overseas placements to Africa, Asia and Latin America [5] were solely aimed at school-leavers aged 17–19, with volunteer recruitment achieved through School Talks and an active Project Trust Community of Alumni. In January 2020 a programme opened to 20-25 [6] year olds, yet to be formally launched, to assess the impact of offering an overseas placement to any young person aged 17–25 who meets the minimum criteria. [7]
Volunteers work in a range of local communities overseas through teaching, [8] [9] [10] community and care work, [11] and outdoor education projects. [12] Often based in remote and rural locations, volunteers have first hand experience of cultural exchange and the challenges of global issues and human rights.
Volunteers' selection and training begin many months before going overseas, with a trip to the Isle of Coll followed by several months of fund-raising prior to travelling overseas. [13] [14] [15] [16] This, combined with training on and off the Isle of Coll, a skills framework developed and evolved over many years, and a challenging but exciting overseas placement, offers volunteers opportunity to develop and enhance their resilience, confidence, and other key attributes that are hard to achieve in formal education and qualifications alone.
When volunteers return, a two-day course on the Isle of Coll allows volunteers to reflect on their experiences overseas and celebrate their achievements individually and as a country group. Returning volunteers are actively encouraged to draw upon their unique experiences and enhanced knowledge and understanding of the world to continue to equip others to become positive forces within it. [17] This can be as Project Trust Ambassadors or as part of the wider Project Trust Community of 'Returned Volunteers and Alumni'. [18]
Up to 250 young people travel overseas to around 23 countries each year, with the charity having spent 1.9 million pounds on its activities in 2018. [1]
The organisation was founded by Nicholas Maclean-Bristol OBE [19] while on secondment from the army, where he held the rank of Major. Mclean-Bristol met the grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia while serving with the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and the first project was to send three volunteers to Ethiopia in 1967. [20] As of 2020, over 8,000 young people have volunteered with Project Trust in 60 different countries. [21]
The charity's headquarters is on the Isle of Coll in Scotland, and has been since 1974; first at Breacachadh Castle, Maclean-Bristol's ancestral home, [20] [19] then moving to Bousd in the east of Coll. [21] It is currently based at the Hebridean Centre at Ballyhaugh [1] which opened in 1988, with some staff working from the UK mainland and beyond, either permanently in their Glasgow office, temporarily when attending events, supporting the PT Community, meetings, or delivering School Talks for example, or further afield.
Project Trust, which in 2016 featured in a BBC Scotland documentary How Scotland Works [22] about the Isle of Coll, is the main employer on the island — which, with its population of approximately 150 permanent residents, lies next to and northeast of the Isle of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides, about 40 miles (65 kilometres) west of Oban through the Sound of Mull.
Notable alumni of Project Trust include journalist, author and broadcaster Gary Younge, actress Tilda Swinton and sustainability specialist Ed Gillespie.[ citation needed ]
Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is a not-for-profit international development organization charity with a vision for "a fair world for everyone" and a mission to "create lasting change through volunteering". VSO delivers development impact through a blended volunteer model consisting of international, national, and community volunteers working together to develop the systems and conditions for positive social change. In 2018–19, VSO worked in 23 countries in Africa and Asia.
The Isle of Mull or just Mull is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute.
Coll is an island located west of the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Coll is known for its sandy beaches, which rise to form large sand dunes, for its corncrakes, and for Breacachadh Castle. It is in the council area of Argyll and Bute.
Tiree is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of 7,834 hectares and a population of around 650.
The Treshnish Isles are an archipelago of small islands and skerries, lying west of the Isle of Mull, in Scotland. They are part of the Inner Hebrides. Trips to the Treshnish Isles operate from Ulva Ferry, Tobermory, Ardnamurchan and Tiree.
A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educational and developmental activities, such as traveling, working, volunteering, or taking courses. Gap years are not limited to a year-long break and can range from several months to a few years.
The Prince's Trust is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by King Charles III to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are unemployed or struggling at school and at risk of exclusion. Many of the young people helped by the trust face issues such as homelessness, disability, mental health problems, or trouble with the law.
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Volunteering Matters is a UK charity focused on "the advancement of citizenship and community development for the public benefit through the promotion of volunteering". It was founded in 1962 as Community Service Volunteers (CSV) by Mora and Alec Dickson. In the 2018/2019 financial year, Volunteering Matters engaged around 20,000 volunteers through its hundreds of voluntary projects across England, Scotland and Wales.
ProjectScotland is a Scottish volunteering organisation allowing 16- to 30-year-olds to volunteer with a local charity or non-profit organisation. All placements are approximately 20–30 hours per week and last for a minimum of 3 months. To date, ProjectScotland has placed more than 5,000 young people, who have in turn completed over 3 million hours' worth of volunteering throughout Scotland.
Tong is a village on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, 4 miles northeast of the main town of Stornoway on the B895 road to Back and Tolsta. The population of the village is 527. Fishing forms part of the local economy.
Edinburgh Global Partnerships SCIO, or EGP, is a student-run charity based at the University of Edinburgh that assists in community-led development projects overseas.
Breachacha Castle is either of two structures on the shore of Loch Breachacha, on the Inner Hebridean island of Coll, Scotland. The earlier is a 15th-century tower house that was a stronghold of the Macleans of Coll, the island having been granted to John Maclean in 1431. This castle was superseded by a new dwelling in 1750 but continued to be occupied for a time. It fell into a ruinous state only in the mid-19th century.
War Memorials Trust works for the protection and conservation of war memorials in the UK. The charity provides free information and advice as well as administering grant schemes for the repair and conservation of war memorials.
International volunteering is when volunteers contribute their time to work for organisations or causes outside their home countries. International volunteering has a long association with international development or environment, with the aim of bringing benefits to host communities. It can include a range of services, from healthcare advancement to economic development to governance.
Pod Volunteer is a non-governmental volunteering organisation with an associated registered charity based in the United Kingdom.
The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Official Birthday celebrations during the month of June. The honours for New Zealand were announced on 1 June, and for Australia on 8 June.
The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations at the start of January and those for 2023 were announced on 30 December 2022.
The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust is a marine conservation charity in the Hebrides, Scotland that is dedicated to research and education of whales, dolphins, and porpoises (Cetaceans) in Hebridean waters. It is based in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull although it works across the whole of the West Coast of Scotland.
