The creation of AfID was inspired by founder Neil Jennings’ volunteer assignment in Rwanda in 2007. Neil left his role as the London Regional Director for Robert Half International, the world’s largest and oldest international accountancy recruitment consultancy, to work as the overseas development director for Children’s Care & Protection in Rwanda (CCPRWA); a small Rwandan NGO set up by orphans and refugees of the 1994 genocide to give vulnerable children across the country access to education.

 

“It became obvious that whilst the staff had achieved amazing results with little or no resources, the survival of their activities hung desperately in the balance due to a lack of financial management experience and a faltering donor relationship. Volunteers had come and gone but sadly never addressing this issue and never really contributing to the long-term development and sustainability of the organisation.” 

 

After returning to the UK, Neil approached a number of volunteer organisations and found that the mismatching of volunteer’s skills was commonplace; the most relevant professional skills were frequently overlooked or worse ignored, and few opportunities existed for highly skilled, employed professionals to share their skills and experience with the organisations that needed them most. But it was when he volunteered with BOND, the UK membership body for NGOs working in international development, supporting their 200 small charity members and their many overseas partners, that the true extent of the sector’s need and the massive demand for accessible financial management support became apparent.