When the last recession struck, Elaine Stevenson, 43, decided to use it as an opportunity to get out of London and do something different. She went as a VSO volunteer to Indonesia.

“It was 1991 and really grim,” she said. “People were talking about money all the time; how much money they were losing on their house. No one was taking any risks with anything. I was in fashion PR so I had the choice of either trying to crawl on to the bottom rung of the property ladder or go and do something completely different.

“I wasn't sure my skills would be of any use but because I had studied business and had worked with voluntary organisations VSO took me on.”

She worked as a volunteer in rural Sumatra, helping women's groups with land and business projects for two years, then worked for VSO in Jakarta for four years. On returning to Britain she studied for a master's degree and now works for Skill Share International, a charity in Leicester. She lives there with her partner and five-year-old daughter.

“I had the time of my life and I totally changed direction as a result,” she said. “It also put into perspective the problems we were having in Britain with the much bigger economic problems there are in the developing world. I would really recommend this as a great time to volunteer overseas.”

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