Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards announced on Wednesday that Global Vision International (GVI) is the world’s best organisation to volunteer with for 2011.
According to the award committee:
GVI impressed the judges with the scale of their impacts on the ground. Placing 3,500 volunteers each year in 40 countries, GVI teaches over 10,000 people each year on six continents. And for GVI the proof of their work is in the performance of their students - in Guatemala their students were in the top 5% nationally examined in 2011 - proving that well-placed skilled volunteers can have genuine impacts. Their charitable trust already estimates £400,000 will be raised for their projects this year alone.
GVI is one of the biggest and most respected volunteer abroad organisations in the world. What sets them apart from competitors is that they run almost all of their own operations. This unique ground up approach to volunteer travel allows GVI to run sustainable long-term projects that volunteers can join and contribute on for short periods of time.
Originally founded in the UK, GVI also maintains head offices in Australia and the United States. Volunteers range in age from 18 -70+ and come from all over the world. GVI also runs programs for 15-17 year olds through its sister company GVI Foundations (www.gvifoundations.co.uk).