IT has brought together people from all over the world passionate about helping their countries fight poverty, war, disease and natural disaster.

Now the innovative Masters degree in development and emergency practice at Oxford Brookes University is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

To mark the milestone, organisers have launched a fundraising push to build a £100,000 scholarship pot to help gifted and passionate individuals who would not otherwise be able to study.

Course director David Sanderson took the one year course 20 years ago in the first small intake of Students.

He returned to head the course five years ago, after working abroad for non-governmental organisation Care International.

He said: “We look at chronic poverty around the world, in other countries and also the UK, and places affected by disasters and conflict. But above all it’s about practice and getting on and dealing with it.

“It’s about dealing with the Haitis, and how you tackle those issues.”

Field trips are a key part of the course, with students on the one-year Masters degree spending time working abroad.

That has included communities affected by the West Bank Wall in Palestine, squatters living on a beach in India, a squatter settlement inSouth Africa, and communities recovering from the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, India.

Mr Sanderson said it was crucial to be able to offer places to people who had expertise on the ground in affected communities.

Students have included people from Iran, Kosovo, Syria and Palestine, among others.

He said: “The people coming here could be from the military, doctors and nurses, teachers, or from all different backgrounds. There are aid workers who have seen some pretty appalling things. They come here to reflect but also to learn practically how to put people in the middle, how we manage projects, what we do when the funding runs out, what we would do if there was another Haiti.”

Grace Le, 27, from East Oxford, came to the course after a background working with refugee groups in this country and teaching.

She said: “It has been amazing. I am really glad we have scholarships which in particular help people who would not otherwise have been able to access this.”