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ICS (International Citizen Service) is now on a major drive to recruit overseas volunteers through the employment4students website.

These 10 to 12 week placements are based in over 20 different African, Asian & Latin American countries and are funded by the UK government. Almost 4,000 young people based in the UK have taken up ICS placements so far, and you could be the next person to go to countries such as Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, Kenya, India, Nicaragua, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda to work on poverty, youth and health projects in local communities.

To take part in this rewarding overseas volunteer work, students and other young people aged between 18 and 25 simply need to fundraise a minimum of £800 to demonstrate their commitment to the programme and to enable more volunteers to take part in the future.

Everything else (flights, accommodation, food, visas, training etc) is fully funded, so it won’t cost you a penny to take part in these fantastically-rewarding volunteer placements through ICS. With most other providers of this sort of experience, students have to fully-fund the placement themselves, meaning a place on other programmes can cost the volunteer a small fortune which can run into the thousands of pounds.

A place on the ICS volunteer programme guarantees that you’ll be making a real difference to the world, whilst developing highly-sought after skills and building an impressive CV for yourself.

Former Zimbabwe volunteer Rosanna explained what led her to choose ICS rather than an alternative provider for her own placement:

“After researching a number of opportunities to volunteer overseas, ICS stood out to me for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was financially accessible to all, not only those who could afford to fully fund the experience themselves. Further, as a Department for International Development sponsored opportunity, I was secure in the knowledge that the placement would be safe, well-organised and importantly, part of the government’s broader international development strategy.

And, picking out some memorable experiences from her volunteer placement, Rosanna said: “One of my personal highlights was being able to bring basic sports equipment such as footballs to schools who didn’t have any. We would use the large crowds that sports coaching sessions would draw to give presentations and distribute literature about HIV/AIDS. I am also very proud to have shared my experience with Zimbabwean volunteers, many of whom I remain in touch with.”

To apply for a place on the ICS volunteer programme, you don’t even need to have any particular qualifications or experience, but you must have the motivation to make a genuine difference with a meaningful contribution. And, in addition to the general overseas volunteer placements there are also roles as Team Leaders (for over 23 year olds) and ICS Entrepreneurs.

To take advantage of these wonderful opportunities, click through now to the ICS application page to find out more about the different roles on offer and apply for a place on one of them today!