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A farewell note from Mark Goldring

After nine years as Chief Executive, and having spent 20 of the last 30 years in various roles with VSO, I have decided to move on in November.

I look back to my first assignment with VSO, as a volunteer teacher in Sarawak, as having shaped my professional life, and having then spent the next 15 years living and working abroad for a range of organisations, it shaped my personal life too.

The VSO I know now has much in common with the organisation I joined in 1979, especially in terms of values, passion and a belief that ordinary people can make an extraordinary contribution to improve the lives of others, while also gaining and learning much themselves. But in other ways the organisation is unrecogniseable; volunteers come from dozens of countries, North and South and only half come from the UK. They work for years, or for weeks, as may be most appropriate, and they work to strengthen local organisations to deliver their contribution to tackling poverty and disdavantage locally. This means volunteers are older, more experienced and sharing skills in a way that is well thought through and focussed on well defined problems. And in this mix there is still room for engaging young people in valuable ways, and increasingly for people from across the world to volunteer within their own countries. VSO is now a global organisation relevant to current needs across the world.

I am moving across to work in the UK voluntary sector, for Mencap, the learning disability charity. Many people have asked why, but I see the challenges as massively interconnected. Both organisations are about giving opportunities to people whose rights are being denied, about promoting inclusion, and about helping people live with dignity. I've much to learn about working on these agendas in the UK, but the UK too has something to learn from the developing world.

VSO is moving fast to recruit my successor and recruitment details will be on the website from 23rd July, with a closing date of 1st September. He or she will have a wonderful job. Could it be you?

I will leave with wonderful memories of more years in the organisation than I could possibly have dreamed of when I first sat in a volunteer selection day in 1979. Thanks to all of you who have played some part in what this wonderful organisation was, is and has done.

Mark Goldring