Young volunteers talk global poverty with Douglas Alexander at Greenbelt

Five of the first volunteers returning from a new global volunteering scheme, Platform2, kicked off their awareness-raising tour on Sunday 24 August by talking to Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, at Greenbelt festival about their experiences of global poverty.

Kamran Anwar, Katy Szum, Staci Smith and Zina Lewis described their experiences of working in Ghana and South Africa, the impact it had made on their own lives and how they were bringing back their experiences to their own communities in the UK.

Zina Lewis said: "It's a life-changing experience and a chance to do something you'll probably never be able to do otherwise, which will broaden your horizons.'

Platform2 is a free global volunteering scheme funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and run by Christian Aid, BUNAC and Islamic Relief. The scheme offers 18-25 year olds, who would not otherwise have the opportunity to volunteer abroad, the chance to spend 10 weeks living and working in a poor community in countries like Ghana, South Africa, Peru or India and raise awareness of the issues on return to the UK.

Katy, Zina and Staci have just returned from the first 10 week project in eastern Ghana, where they lived in the village of Gbledi Chebi and worked at a nearby wildlife reserve and Kamran has returned from Cape Town in South Africa, where the team work in an environment centre that serves a local township community.

On their return to the UK, the volunteers attended a three-day workshop where they devised interesting and exciting ways of communicating what they have learnt about global issues with friends, family and their local community. They will continue to build on their life and employment skills by organising talks, exhibitions, blogs and local press coverage.

On the web: www.myplatform2.com