WIREDGOV

BAA Communities Trust is cementing its partnership with VSO and the British Council to support the Global Xchange programme for the fifth year in a row. The scheme has also drawn match funding from the youth volunteering organisation v for the third year running.

The Trust will invest more than £150,000 towards four Global Xchange programmes, matched pound for pound by v. with the joint aim of inspiring more young people to get engaged in volunteering and community action.

Global Xchange is a six month programme which gives young people from different countries and different backgrounds an opportunity to work together as volunteers on community projects both in the UK and overseas. Global Xchange is run and managed by international development charity VSO and the British Council.

For the programme, nine volunteers aged 18-25 from overseas are teamed up with nine UK volunteers to work on community based projects in the UK for three months and abroad for three months. The volunteers are hosted by local families during their stay, giving them a unique opportunity to experience a different culture and community. The young volunteers give 12,000 hours of voluntary work over the six months.

BAA Communities Trust, set up by airport operator BAA, is providing backing for four programmes during 2008 and 2009. To help fund the programmes, the Trust is supported by v, the youth volunteering organisation launched in 2006 to fund activity designed to inspire one million more volunteers.

BAA Communities Trust was established in 1996 by BAA. Since then it has made grants of more than £4 million for projects in the communities local to the company’s seven UK airports, to support charitable initiatives by staff and to global projects linked to youth development.

It has provided more than £600,000 towards Global Xchange since 2004.

Said Trust director Caroline Nicholls: “Our partnership with v enables us to unlock extra money and create new ways for more young volunteers to help their communities – and at the same time develop valuable skills for themselves.

“Global Xchange is the perfect programme to achieve this aim, with air travel creating a vital bridge between cultures.”

For more information from BAA Communities Trust:
Caroline Nicholls 07836 342495

For more information about Global Xchange contact the VSO media office: 020 8780 7410, press@vso.org.uk

Notes to editor

BAA Communities Trust was established 10 years ago by BAA. Since then it has made grants of nearly £4 million for projects in the communities local to the company’s seven UK airports, including Gatwick, to support charitable initiatives by staff and to global projects linked to youth development.

v is the youth volunteering charity launched in May 2006 whose mission is to inspire a new generation of young volunteers in England aged 16-25. v is supported by the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office.

v uses an innovative ‘Match Fund’ business model which allows funds raised from the private sector to be matched by the Government. Up to £50 million has been allocated by the Government for this purpose over three years. For more information about v please visit www.wearev.com

The British Council is the UK's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Our purpose is to build mutually beneficial relationships between people in the UK and other countries and increase appreciation of the UK's creative ideas and achievements. We operate in 110 countries and territories around the world. www.britishcouncil.org

VSO is an international development charity that works through volunteers. VSO volunteers live and work with some of the poorest communities in the world to share their skills and leave a lasting impact. For more information visit www.vso.org.uk