The Charity Supplement #2ACT FAST: Vodafone Offer 2 Months Experience At Your Chosen CharitySAY ‘Goodbye’ to the

‘Volunteer’

Way to Givethis recession – now you can

get paid

to help your charity. This is thanks to the Vodafone Scheme

‘World of Difference’

which isoffering 500 successful applicants the chance to work for 2 months for a UK charityof their choice. The aim is to offer people, especially those who might not otherwisehave the opportunity to do so, the chance to make a difference.

Which Charity

users will be quite familiar with the similar charity chooser facility,named

‘Charity Matchmaker,’

featured on the site. The facility, developed inconnection with

WorldWide Volunteering

allows you to choose who you areinterested to work for (main category) and then select from the appropriate sub-categories, followed by

where

you’d like to work – which part of the UK. It should beremembered that this search facility is specifically aimed at finding charities who youcan work with as part of this programme, and so some of the information, includingcontact information available on the site, will reflect this. In addition, although

Vodafone

encourages the use of this facility, it does not mean that a charity not listedon the site isn’t eligible – any UK charity is eligible.The scheme, which has run annually since it was launched by the New Zealand branch in 2002, certainly has its uses this year, perhaps more so than others: there has been some questioning in the third sector about the impact of the recession on people’s supporting of their charities. Certainly, it is understandable that regular givers may have to give less often, or smaller amounts, however an interestingquestion is whether volunteers are now trading their time for paid work if they haveaccess to it. A paid placement with

World of Difference

is therefore no doubt anattractive offer, especially for anyone considering work in the third sector, as thisopportunity provides vital work experience and welcome CV enhancing.For the charities which employ applicants for the course of the two months,

World of Difference

will donate £2,500 which can be put towards any project the charitiessupport.Successful applicants of the scheme will be deemed to be those who are passionateabout the cause they wish to support and can show that their skills and ideas – whether or not they have worked in the third sector before – will be useful to thecharity they wish to work for. In addition, if the applicants are successful

Vodafone

promises to provide them with a mobile phone complete with pre-paid credit. This isan extra advantage for anyone interested. Importantly though, whilst it might beexpected for a phone company to promote their own brand in any scheme, thecompany reason the benefit further by suggesting that successful applicants use their brand new phone to spread the word about their placement. In fact, successfulapplicants will be required to share their experiences publically through, for example,

Facebook

and

Twitter

. Making use of social networks to publicise their placementwill advertise their charity and allow them to speak out for the cause they aresupporting. It is of course another way to give.

World of Difference:

“...an ideal opportunity to help others while gaining valuable life and work experience” Andrew Dunnett, Director, Vodafone Foundation

The scheme is one of several under the

Vodafone Foundation

, also set up in 2002.The 24 Foundations fund global projects – everything from disaster projects to sportand music projects – known as ‘themes’ of the Foundation. They also support severalcharities and organisations including the

World Food Programme

, and

Oxfam.

Sincethe Foundation’s start over £100 million has been invested in projects worldwide, providing a firm backing to a useful project such as the

World of Difference.

The scheme is hoped to give “people who want to donate themselves, and get paid,the chance to put that passion into practice,” says Andrew Dunnett, Director of the

Vodafone Foundation.

Anyone aged 18 or over can apply to the

World of Difference

,which opened on 23

September and closes at midnight on 3

November, butapplicants should expect some extreme competition, especially considering that theFoundation currently has over 127, 000

Facebook

fans and that, as Mr Dunnettobserves, there has been “a huge surge of interest in UK-based charity placements.”Furthermore, the success of eight winners from the scheme’s international programme, who beat 1,000 applicants to get the jobs, emphasises just howcompetitive and useful this scheme really is.ADDITIONAL USEFUL INFORMATION

•

The first placements begin on 11

Jan 2010 or 12 April 2010, following aninduction day in London.

•

Applicants must be over 18 and a resident of the UK in order to apply.

•

The only other requirements are that applicants stay up to date with their preferred charity’s news and that they are wholly supportive of the charity’saims and objectives.

•

Applicants must discuss their want and reasons to apply for World of Difference with their chosen charity (see the FAQ link below for moreinformation)LINKS

•

World of Difference - website

•

World of Difference’s FAQ’S: