Business owners 'should share their skills'

Date: 1st April 2008

Small business owners should share their management skills with the less fortunate, according to the charity Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).

VSO spokesperson Neera Dhingra says that volunteers with business and management skills are "always" required in developing countries.

Ms Dhingra says that business owners with time to spare can help in a number of ways - from helping to develop a small business, to teaching people how to manage their land and assets more effectively.

"The range of volunteers is wider than you might think. As well as the education staff and healthcare professionals, we also need business and management skills," she comments.

So far the VSO has arranged for 32,000 people to volunteer in 119 countries around the world.

The charity says that the average age of a volunteer is 41 and adds that volunteers come from a diverse range of occupations.