EIL (Experiment in International Living) is a registered charity and has existed in the UK since 1937. For over 70 years we have been bringing people together from different cultures, breaking down barriers to mutual understanding and increasing cultural awareness. Our mission is to empower and equip people, particularly young people and disadvantaged groups, as agents of pro-active change within local communities. We achieve this through experiential learning, training and cultural exchange.

EIL is a member of a worldwide Federation with partners in 22 countries. Federation EIL is one of
the oldest and most established hosting organisations in the world and was recognised in 1989 as
a Peace Messenger organisation by the United Nations Secretary General.

Our diverse range of programmes are delivered in the UK, Europe and worldwide and include volunteering, individual homestays and group learning. All have one thing in common – Community. We are proud to work with all sectors of society and specialise in bringing different people together to learn from each other; whether disadvantaged young people from the UK, international volunteers or the former mayor of Preston!

Group Programmes
We work with young people from many different backgrounds including:
- Faith/culturally diverse groups from communities in the UK coming together
- International groups coming into the UK and meeting British young people
- British people travelling to communities abroad


European Voluntary Service (EVS) and Worldwide Volunteering
We have been delivering EVS for the British Council and the EU since its inception over 10 years ago, and we are one of just four British Council approved training organisations in England. We provide both long and short term projects, with the short term projects specifically designed for disadvantaged young people. For more information see our Volunteering 18 -30’s website here.
We offer Worldwide Volunteering in more than 14 countries through our partners. For more information, see our Overseas Volunteering website here.

In 2007, 46 people from the UK travelled to 15 countries on 19 different programmes, gaining language skills, understanding of others and self-awareness

Host Families
Many of our programmes involve ‘Homestays’, either in the UK or abroad, where foreign visitors live with a Host Family and share their lives. Such experiences educate participants about the differences and, more importantly, the similarities and common needs of all of the world's peoples.
We believe that “People learn to live together by living together”.

We have 33 experienced communities and many individual families who host for us in the UK, from Penzance (in the far south-west) to Insch (in the north-east of Scotland). Our families are specially selected to host international visitors because they want to learn about other cultures and share their British family life. Their visitors come to the UK as individuals, a group on a themed programme, or a student on the High School Programme where they attend the local high school.

In 2007, 1536 international visitors were hosted by over 500 British families, breaking down barriers to mutual understanding and increasing cultural awareness.

EIL has a broad expertise in facilitating cultural awareness and creating mutual understanding and we achieve this through experiential learning, training and cultural exchange. This experience is harnessed to develop new programmes and our future working with people in local communities.



 

   
   
   
   
E.I.L. is a registered charity (No. 1070440) that works in the area of educational and cultural travel. Our mission is to empower and equip people, particularly young people and disadvantaged groups, as agents of pro-active change within local communities.