Thank you for taking the time to visit my Just Giving page.

Thank you to all of those who supported me and donated. I am please to say that I have reached my donation target! I am very grateful to everyone for making this happen.

In July I will volunteer for VSO Entrepreneur on a development programme in Nigeria. This is part of International Citizen Service (ICS), which brings young people together to fight poverty and make a difference where it is needed most. I’ll be working alongside volunteers from Nigeria, on a project that will aim to improve economic output of farming in local areas. ICS works with communities that have specifically requested their help. It also aims to inspire young people in the UK and overseas to become active citizens who are passionate about long term community development. I need to raise £800 for VSO who are one of the respected development charities that deliver ICS. This is in order to show my commitment to the project and will allow them to continue to bring about positive change in the developing communities where they opperate. You can check out their amazing work here: http://www.vso.org.uk/

I will be in the mid-west region of Osun working alongside the Farmers Development Union (FADU). FADU’s mission is to assist individual and community actions that help create jobs, increase income and promote social development of local communities. My project aims to support and enhance the economic participation of women within the cocoa value-chain. I will be involved in raising awareness about FADU’s micro-finance schemes, delivering financial literacy training, sharing creative ideas on how to make more money from their produce, and community action days on re-igniting farming passion in youth. I know what you’re thinking, when did Ben become such an expert on farming?  Well, fortunately I will be training before I go.

Years of focus on oil revenues has left Nigeria with a lack of industrial diversity and made it over-dependent on energy, which uses a lot of costly equipment but employs few people. So while the economy has been growing at an average of 7 percent for the past five years, it has failed to create jobs for many of Nigeria's 170 million people. With 70% of the workforce involved in farming it is vital to improve this sector. I hope that in my own small way I can help rejuvenate agriculture in a local area. I would be extremely grateful if you could support me and VSO, not simply because of the amazing work that VSO does all over the world but because I will have an unforgettable and formative experience and will hopefully come back with a better understanding of international development and how to make a difference.

I will also be taking the Live Below the Line challenge, where I will be living below the poverty line for 5 days-which means no more than £1 for food and drink per day. Please follow the link below to find out more: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/uk/challenge