InterVol
History & Ethos
InterVol [1] was set up in January 2004 by a group of students brought together by Andrew Bartley and Graham Allcott from the Student Development department at the University of Birmingham Guild of Students[2][3][4]. The project was formed by a group of students who, after hearing about Andrew and Graham's experiences volunteering abroad, decided that there was an excellent opportunity to organise such projects on a larger scale within the University. InterVol now focuses on sustainable development projects that aim to make a long term difference to developing communities. Through working in partnership with local NGOs InterVol ensures that all projects are in harmony with community wishes and goals.
In the summer of 2004 they led three highly successful volunteering projects to Bulgaria [5], Cambodia [6] and Uganda [7]. The volunteers were involved in areas as varied as AIDS awareness training, work in orphanages, teaching English, building a website and starting a paper recycling business.
In 2005 the projects roster was quickly increased to eight projects as the popularity and presence of the project on the University of Birmingham campus increased dramatically. The new projects were based in Ecuador (conservation and social [8]), Ghana [9], Poland and South Africa [10]. InterVol attained charity status in July 2005 to aid fund-raising initiatives, however, due to restrictions on the operation of charities within the Guild of Students this was voluntarily removed in October 2006 [11].
In 2006 InterVol began to consolidate after fast growth in its first two years. Previous projects were maintained and fine-tuned while new projects in Thailand [12] and Nepal [13] were proposed. The project in Nepal was later cancelled due to safety concerns following the country's political instability in summer 2006.
In 2007 a new project to construct school buildings in rural Nepal commenced and was a resounding success [14]. InterVol's newest venture has been to expand into Kenya with two new projects based around community development and sports.
Current Projects
Current projects take place in Bulgaria [15], Cambodia [16], Ecuador (Animal Conservation) [17], Ecuador (Cloud-forest Conservation) [18], Kenya (Sports Volunteering) [19], Kenya (Challenge Africa) [20]), Nepal [21] and South Africa [22]. Around eighty volunteers will take part in projects this year.
InterVol is a founding member of the Student Volunteers Overseas Partnership (SVOP), composed of UK university international volunteering societies [23]. InterVol organised and hosted the 2007 SVOP conference which included speakers from the Adam Smith Institute, Peace Child International and the director of the University of Birmingham's International Development Department, Dr. Philip Amis [24] [25].
InterVol Presidents: 2004-Present
Presidents of InterVol are elected democratically each academic year at the project's AGM:
2004-2005: Danielle Gerson & John Gorski
2005-2006: Robert Chuter & Lara Edmondson
2006-2007: Rachel Glover & Ben Whibley
2007-2008: Cai Heath
2008-2009: Kate Britton & Cai Heath
2009-2010: Amy Ewers