The International Citizen Service, the international arm of the government’s flagship youth volunteering programme, has recruited 20,000 people to take part.

The ICS is open to 18 to 25-year-olds funded by the Department for International Development and is run by overseas volunteering charity VSO. It offers 12-week volunteering placements in more than 30 countries around the globe, including Lesotho (pictured).

It recruits half its users from the UK, and half from the countries where it runs programmes.

The ICS has seen rapid growth, with 1,142 volunteers from the UK taking part in the year to March 2013, 2,219 the next year, and 3,640 the next year. Final figures have not been published for the year to March 2016, but 3,000 young people have already taken part.

The total budget for the first three years was £55m.