Today is international volunteering day, celebrated every December 5th around the world with the objective of celebrating and promoting the achievements of volunteers and volunteering organisations efforts to achieve peace and sustainable development.

I was recently contacted by a constituent whose story of volunteering is a good example of one individuals trying to make a difference. Derek first became involved with VSO back in 1967, when he worked in a secondary school in Dakar Senegal. He says: “This powerful experience helped me develop a global perspective on many aspects of human development at a time when, for example, Enoch Powell was calling for the repatriation of Afro Caribbeans back to their countries.”

More recently, Derek and his wife Trudy have  worked in Guyana, South America in a part of the country dominated by prime rainforest. They worked with all the primary schools in the region, developing the literacy skills of teachers and pupils, as well as the capacity of schools to plan their development over the next 5 years. Since returning to the UK, Derek has given talks to prospective volunteers and also helped Downs Junior School, where he was formerly a head teacher, with some of their rainforest projects.

So far the Coalition has kept its promises on international aid, but every Government budget is under  continuous pressure on and there’s always the risk aid money will get cut in future. I’d argue that we actually need to increase the proportion of money we invest in development to at least 1% of UK Gross National Product, compared to the current 0.7%. At the same time, we urgently need legislation to ensure that UK companies operating abroad don’t undermine development goals and are required to adhere to rigorous environmental and human rights standards.

International Volunteering Day is a reminder of just how important it is to be at the forefront of giving aid, whether it be cash or expertise, to countries in the global South – and of the benefits. Last year VSO reached over 9 million people through their programmes, providing people with better health services, helping 20,000 disabled children get the education they deserve, and delivering training and support to over 148,000 teachers and specialist education professionals. So today I want to thank all the Dereks and Trudys out there for their time and commitment and to congratulate everyone who has volunteered overseas and helped make a real difference.