Welcome to my JustGiving fundraising page! It gives me great pleasure to announce that I have been selected to volunteer overseas with VSO on an International Citizen Service placement in Tanzania.

A bit about me. Having grown up in a low-income household, my family have motivated me to succeed against adversity. As a law graduate from Nottingham Trent University, I supported students and young people through a range of roles; I worked in a team to teach French in a deprived area of derbyshire for six weeks, I sat as a student trustee on the board of my student union for two years and sat on panels to discuss how to increase equality and social mobility in society. I also co-founded an award-winning university society called The New Black which had similar goals to ICS as we aimed to inspire students to succeed against adversity in their personal and professional lives (See images below). Since I have left university, I have ran workshops and conducted speeches designed to inspire young people to succeed in college and university. I have also secured an internship at an international law firm. Going onto the ICS programme will be a monumental step in my journey to become the person I have always wanted to be; a person who is ambitious, determined and challenging the status quo.

ICS works with communities that have specifically requested support. The organisation aims to inspire young people in the UK and overseas to become active citizens who are passionate about long term community development. Their goals align with mine.

Before I travel overseas, ICS has challenged me to raise £800 towards the work of VSO and their ICS partners. The money raised will go towards enabling the overall costs of ICS, ensuring they continue sending youth volunteers to make a lasting difference in disadvantaged communities abroad.

My place on the programme is already paid for - visas, flights, travel and medical insurance, medication, vaccines, food, the lot! Its a great opportunity. All the funds volunteers raise will support all ICS partners to run the programme effectively and contribute to their vital work.

To raise further donations, I’ll be running a presentation skills workshop and organising a raffle involving local businesses donating prizes.

You can keep track of how I get on here on my JustGiving page. Any contribution from you will make a real difference to the lives of people in developing countries, so help a brother out!

Akil