Edinburgh Global Partnerships SCIO, or EGP, is a student-run charity based at the University of Edinburgh that assists in community-led development projects overseas.
EGP's four main aims are:
To support community led initiatives, working together with people to help them achieve their long-term goals for development. To allow volunteers to develop new skills and a wider perspective on the world we live in. To promote international understanding through projects that are focussed on building friendship, trust and respect between EGP volunteers and people across the world. To establish partnerships with local organisations to encourage volunteers to participate in volunteering in and around Edinburgh.
In March 2012, EGP was awarded a "Global Society Star" Award by Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA) in recognition of their contribution to the "global experience on campus, in the local community, and abroad". In April 2019, EGP was awarded EUSA's "Outstanding Contribution to the Global Community Award".
History
EGP was founded as a society at the University of Edinburgh by student Benjamin Carey in 1990 and subsequently achieved charity status later that year. It is thought to be the oldest international volunteer organisation across UK universities. In 2019, EGP ceased to be a society at the University of Edinburgh and became a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO).
EGP was originally called H.E.L.P. (Scotland) standing for Humanitarian Education & Long-term Projects.
Committee
EGP is managed by twelve committee members who are responsible for the running of the charity. Each member is a student who has previously completed an EGP project as a volunteer. Committee members also work on a voluntary basis.
Project Selection and Implementation Process
EGP works by partnering with NGOs and communities from all over the world. Every year, it implements 5/6 projects.
Communities and NGOs apply to work with EGP by submitting a Project Proposal. Over the summer, the Project Researcher and Developer works directly with each applicant and clarifies any questions pertaining to the proposal. The EGP Committee as a whole then compiles and submits further questions to each applicant. When this process is complete, the Committee meets to decide which projects will be selected. Selected projects must be both sustainable and supported by the local community. Projects are selected in September/October.
Once projects have been selected, the Committee recruits 6-10 volunteers for each project. Teams of volunteers work with EGP throughout the academic year, attending weekly trainings on topics such as cultural awareness, safety and health. Each team of volunteers is tasked with raising the funds necessary to implement their project. This is usually done through donations, sponsorships and charity events. In 2019, EGP volunteers participated in the Meadows Marathon. Volunteer fundraising activities were featured in STV Magazine in February 2012.
In the summer, teams travel to their host community to provide unskilled labour and assistance for the implementation of each project.
Past Projects
Past EGP Projects have included the construction of the New Vision School in Tanzania in 2006, a grinding mill and a house in Zambia in 2005 and the construction of a conventional dairy goat breeding unit in Kisumu, Kenya in 2011. EGP has also been involved in projects addressing the " widespread problem" of "exploitative sexual relations between teachers and student" in Uganda.
Projects 2017/2018
EGP completed four projects in the summer of 2018.
KEEP, Nepal
EGP volunteers worked with Kathmandu Environmental Education Project (KEEP) in Dhading District, two hours from Kathmandu, on the reconstruction of a two classroom block which had been destroyed by an earthquake. Families in this rural community are now able to send their children to the school, which gives children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to gain vital life skills, such as literacy and numeracy. The school was constructed with earthquake-resistant materials to prevent future disasters.
