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Founder | Benjamin Carey |
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Type | Charitable organization |
Registration no. | Scotland: SC018757 |
Focus | International Development |
Location |
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Area served | Edinburgh, Africa, Asia and South-America |
Revenue | £50,597 per year (average 2013-2017) |
Formerly called | HELP Scotland |
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. [1]
EGP's four main aims are: [2]
In March 2012, EGP was awarded a "Global Society Star" Award by Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA) in recognition of their contribution to the "global experience on campus, in the local community, and abroad". [3] In April 2019, EGP was awarded EUSA's "Outstanding Contribution to the Global Community Award". [4]
EGP was founded as a society at the University of Edinburgh by student Benjamin Carey in 1990 and subsequently achieved charity status later that year. It is thought to be the oldest international volunteer organisation across UK universities. [5] In 2019, EGP ceased to be a society at the University of Edinburgh and became a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO).
EGP was originally called H.E.L.P. (Scotland) standing for Humanitarian Education & Long-term Projects.
EGP is managed by committee members who are responsible for the running of the charity. Committee members also work on a voluntary basis. [6]
EGP works by partnering with NGOs and communities from all over the world. Every year, it implements 5/6 projects.
Communities and NGOs apply to work with EGP by submitting a Project Proposal. Over the summer, the Project Researcher and Developer works directly with each applicant and clarifies any questions pertaining to the proposal. The EGP Committee as a whole then compiles and submits further questions to each applicant. When this process is complete, the Committee meets to decide which projects will be selected. Selected projects must be both sustainable and supported by the local community. Projects are selected in September/October. [7]
Once projects have been selected, the Committee recruits 6-10 volunteers for each project. Teams of volunteers work with EGP throughout the academic year, attending weekly trainings on topics such as cultural awareness, safety and health. Each team of volunteers is tasked with raising the funds necessary to implement their project. This is usually done through donations, sponsorships and charity events. In 2019, EGP volunteers participated in the Meadows Marathon. [8] [9] Volunteer fundraising activities were featured in STV Magazine in February 2012. [10]
In the summer, teams travel to their host community to provide unskilled labour and assistance for the implementation of each project.
Past EGP Projects have included the construction of the New Vision School in Tanzania in 2006, [11] a grinding mill and a house in Zambia in 2005 and the construction of a conventional dairy goat breeding unit in Kisumu, Kenya in 2011. [12] EGP has also been involved in projects addressing the " widespread problem" of "exploitative sexual relations between teachers and student" in Uganda. [13]
EGP is a member of the Scotland's International Development Alliance (SIDA, formerly NIDOS). [14] EGP was featured in the NIDOS March 2012 Newsletter. [15]
EGP is part of the Student International Development Network (SIDN). SIDN is "a partnership between UK based student-led international volunteering groups", and it includes InterVol, Oxford Development Abroad (ODA), Student Volunteering Abroad (SVA) Glasgow and Bristol Volunteers for Development Abroad (BVDA). [16] [17]
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.
Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA) is the students' union at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. The Association's aim is the advancement of education of Edinburgh students by representing and supporting them, and by promoting their interests, health and welfare within the community. It is led by a team of five elected student sabbatical officers.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young adults for completing a series of self-improvement exercises modelled on Kurt Hahn's solutions to his "Six Declines of Modern Youth".
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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.
INASP is an international development charity working with a global network of partners to improve access, production and use of research information and knowledge, so that countries are equipped to solve their development challenges.
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InterVol is a community volunteering charity based in the United Kingdom. InterVol support poverty reduction, conservation and education projects globally, as well as community volunteering based on university campuses in the United Kingdom. The charity is based at the University of Birmingham, Imperial College London, Lancaster University, University of Nottingham, and Oxford Brookes University.
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Cambridge SCA is a registered charity which encourages and provides community volunteering opportunities for the students of the University of Cambridge. Projects typically provide services to disadvantaged groups within the local community and provide students with valuable learning opportunities and a chance to make a difference. Cambridge SCA runs 10 of its own 'Internal Projects', each of which are headed by student Project Leaders - these projects include 'Big Siblings', 'Parklife', 'Betty Stubbens Musical Entertainment Group' and 'Teaching English as a Second Language'. They also offer volunteering opportunities with over 60 external organisations, such as Cambridge Carbon Footprint, Headway and the Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre.
Tzedek is a UK-based registered charity organisation which aims to provide a Jewish response to the problem of extreme global poverty. Registered as a charity in 1993, Tzedek has a number of overseas development programmes, working closely with local NGOs to alleviate extreme poverty in Northern Ghana and Northeast & Southeast India. As well as supporting local NGOs within these regions, Tzedek aims to develop the leadership skills of young Jewish leaders within the community to provide a long-term, sustainable solution to global poverty.
European University Sports Association (EUSA) is an umbrella non-governmental (NGO) non-profit organisation, working in the field of university sport in Europe.
First Aid Africa is humanitarian charity that works in rural parts of south eastern Africa to provide sustainable equipment and education in first aid. The charity explains that 'a small amount of medical knowledge and equipment' can make a difference. Volunteers and students receive some training before travelling to Africa to teach first aid and survival skills in settings such as local communities, schools, orphanages and villages.
Edinburgh University Theatre Company (EUTC) is a student theatre company at the University of Edinburgh. The EUTC was founded in 1871 as the Edinburgh University Amateur Dramatic Club and adopted its current name in the 1970s. Since 1980 it has run the Bedlam Theatre.
Doctors for Global Health (DGH) is a private, not-for-profit, non-governmental organization promoting health, education, art and other human rights throughout the world.
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.
Camps International Ltd is an international volunteer travel operator headquartered in Ringwood, Hampshire UK, Dubai, UAE and Australia. Camps International build permanent volunteer accommodation camps within Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Borneo, Cambodia, Ecuador and Peru. Its products include adventure expeditions, educational school expeditions for UK, UAE and Australian school groups.
Education Partnerships Africa is a volunteer-run charity which sends UK university students to work in rural secondary schools in East Africa. It aims to benefit students in East Africa by improving education in its partner schools, and to give personal development opportunities to UK university students. It was established in Kisii in 1990 as The Kenya Project. Since then it has expanded to two further sites: Kakamega in Kenya and Mbarara in Uganda, and now works with around 30 schools each summer.
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