About Volunteer Travel
Volunteer travel or ‘voluntourism’ is a relatively new form of travel that gives travelers to opportunity to make an exceptional difference to the planet in a safe, responsible and supported way. Volunteers can enjoy an exciting travel adventure abroad while assisting vitally important community and environmental projects that are run by the local people. You can volunteer all over the world from as little as two weeks up to several months. You’ll engage with a local community in a unique way and experience part of another country not easily accessible to tourists.
Who can do what?
The great thing about our volunteer projects is that most of them don't require any specific skills, nor do they discriminate by age or sex which means people from different walks of life can take part in contributing to worthwhile and meaningful travel. If you are participating on a Teaching or Community work placement you may need to submit a Criminal Record Check once you’ve booked.
Why is there a Placement Fee?
It may seem like a strange concept to pay for a volunteer experience, and you'd be right to think you shouldn't. The truth is you don’t, your placement is free; it's the benefits and support around your placement that you pay for. Aside from the direct cost of your project (e.g. airport pickup, food, accommodation), your placement fee also covers in-country support staff, costs associated with finding worthwhile and safe projects, regular assessment of current projects and recruitment activity to ensure projects have a sustained flow of volunteers to help them achieve their long-term goals.
Accommodation and meals
Accommodation is included with all projects and meals are included with most. We only use locally-owned and operated accommodation so you can be sure that the money set aside for it is filtering directly back into the local economy. Most projects offer homestay, guesthouse or shared volunteer houses as standard accommodation, but some offer the chance to upgrade to a more comfortable living standard.
Local Support Teams
Our in-country teams are there to make sure you're getting the most out of your travel experience. All teams are English speaking and are locals of your destination country. They’ll pick you up from the airport, give you an introduction to the country and the local culture and conduct an orientation upon arrival at the project. They won’t be on your project every day, but will be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so in the unlikely event of an emergency or if you’re experiencing any problems there will be someone there to help you.
