Volunteering with the International Citizen Service

Just as a heads up i've heard from an ex-balloon volunteer that it's not solely about who'd be the best candidate to help on the volunteering projects but also who'd benefit the most out of the ICS experience. After all it's a government initiative to develop the UK Citizens too.

You got a Challenges Assessment day coming up? Mines on Tuesday!

Just out of interest did your ex balloon friend enjoy their placement?

Very much so - said it was one of the best experiences they've had in regards to work. They've just landed themselves an internship at Simon Kucher one of the worlds leading price consultants. The alumni for Balloon is very impressive too, with former volunteers working for McKinsey and Bain (Top 2 strategy consultants in the world).

All in all he thoroughly enjoyed it - what are you looking to go into? I'm looking to go into consulting so it's a fantastic opportunity to gain hands on consulting experience but also it's quite exotic and altruistic at the same time.

Very much so - said it was one of the best experiences they've had in regards to work. They've just landed themselves an internship at Simon Kucher one of the worlds leading price consultants. The alumni for Balloon is very impressive too, with former volunteers working for McKinsey and Bain (Top 2 strategy consultants in the world).

All in all he thoroughly enjoyed it - what are you looking to go into? I'm looking to go into consulting so it's a fantastic opportunity to gain hands on consulting experience but also it'll quite exotic and altruistic at the same time.

How tough is the selection process for the assessment day/how many are unsuccessful?

How tough is the selection process for the assessment day/how many are unsuccessful?

I had my training weekend a few days ago, and saw quite a few people from my interview day. We got told that the only people who aren't successful are those who don't speak during the group activities.

Have you applied to go abroad this summer? I've fundraised £500 so far, most of which has been grants from charities so its not too difficult to reach the fundraising target.

Hi Lisa,

Do you mind letting me know which grants you've managed to get? I've been researching for what seems like hours, but don't seem to meet any of the criteria!

Thanks

Heyy,

I received £300 from The Joicey Trust which provides grants to people living in the North East and also the Alchemy Foundation who provide £100 to people volunteering with Raleigh International. I've also sent letters to other organisations and applied for a grant from my uni but haven't heard back :/

Raleigh sent us out a document with a list of organisations who provide grants and donations toward these kind of projects!

Where abouts are you from? I know there's a few in London which offer grants too i.e http://www.jackpetcheyfoundation.org.uk/

Hi, which other ones in London offer grants? JPF is the only one I can find but I need extra support.

Thanks!

Yeah, I live in the south, but not London, which seems to rule me out of everything

Starting to wonder how I'm ever going to make £800 in 4 weeks without any large donations or access to Uni :/

Check out turn2us as they have a list of grants on their website.

If you're volunteering with Raleigh, then get in touch with The Alchemy Foundation as they give out £100 to volunteers

One guy at my training weekend said that he wrote to his MP and they donated money towards his fundraising.

I've attached a picture of the ideas we came up with as a group, although I agree raising that amount of money without grants can prove challenging.

How was your training weekend what sort of things did you learn?