When our differences inspire making a difference

Voluntourism programmes often get criticised for their questionable motivations and lack of real, lasting impact. The ICS programme from VSO is a government initiative that encourages young people from all socio-economic backgrounds to take part. Crucially, it’s not a relaxing break for ‘privileged voluntourists’, but a rewarding and often challenging experience that puts an emphasis on lasting value for the placement communities.

VSO asked us to create a brand film that promotes ICS as a responsible youth-volunteering programme that benefits the community as much as the volunteers taking part.

Our strategy was to celebrate VSO’s commitment to impact and diversity by focusing on the value-exchange that occurs when people of different backgrounds and perspectives come together. To visualise this, we used a split-screen mechanic to follow the story of four volunteers from different countries and backgrounds.

The film starts with our volunteers carrying out everyday activities in their hometowns. This visual contrast in setting contextualises the diversity of the volunteers, before transitioning to footage of our four main characters in their respective placements. We used a myriad of action shots that matched up our volunteers on-screen to show the skills and abilities each volunteer brought to the placement to create lasting change.

To date, the film has reached over a million people organically across VSO’s various social media platforms, generating thousands of impressions and engagements.