Volunteer Advisor Get Ready to Volunteer!
Useful Resources
You will find below a list of organsiations that run various volunteer programmes which may be of interest to you. As you can see there appear to be lots so it may take a little time to work through them, but do check at least some of them out and compare prices and the things that they offer. you should choose carefully and do your research before selecting any particular one. It may be important to you to have a contact in the country you will be volunteering in yet only some organisations offer this and this could be reflected in the costs.
You should also check out what happens to the money you pay, what it covers on your trip and what extras you will pay for. It is also always a good idea to contact these organisations by telephone and/or by email to see what kind of response you get and the professionalism and care they take when dealing with your enquiry. This is important as it could give you an idea into how well they will deal with any unexpected challenges you could face when travelling and volunteering abroad. There is of course a limit to the help some can give you and you should also be partly responsible for taking appropriate measures yourself such as those described on this site, but it can be very reassuring to have a representative of the organisation you have volunteered with at hand in the country where you will be based to give advice should you need it. Either way the organisation you should should be able to give you sufficient information about your destination, the volunteer work involved, who benefits from it, and the support you will get. If it cannot do this then you should seriously think about using a different one which can offer you a more professional service. After all, this is going to be potentially the trip of a lifetime.
So go ahead and visit some of the sites below and we hope that this is the start of something wonderful, exciting and memorable that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
- GAP Adventures
is a great site for the adventure and volunteer traveler, established in 1990, and providing a wide range of travel experiences around the world. This site is especially good for those who do not have a large amount of time to commit to a volunteer trip or who would just like to give something back and volunteer for a few days as part of a more general adventure travel trip. Group sizes are usually kept small and can include others from all over the world which is great for meeting new people and making friends. It is also a site full of good advice and fun travel ideas.
- i-to-i offers a huge array of volunteer experiences around the world. It has offices based in several countries including the UK, USA and Australia.
- VSO is an international development charity that offers a variety of volunteer programmes in many fields and for different time periods particularly aimed at professionals but at almost all ages. If you have a required skill you may find this is the one for you.
- Real Gap Experience is UK based and offers a number of volunteer experiences around the world along with other opportunities for those taking time away from work of studies. Mainly aimed at younger people.
- Trekforce Worldwide is another UK based organisaiton offering a varied range of volunteer opportunities for different time scales.
- Earthwatch Institute is a worldwide organisation that offers volunteers of all ages the opportunity to participate in important environmental and conservation research projects around the world.
- Global Vision International (GVI) has offices in the UK, Ireland, USA and Australia and offers lots of volunteer opportunities of different types in many countries.
- World Expeditions has offices in the UK, Australia, USA, New Zealand and Canada and offers a small number of interesting and challenging community project programmes in a few countries around the world.
- Global Volunteers is an American not-for-profit corporation which offers a number of volunteer programmes in the USA or various countries around the world.
- Coral Cay Conservation offers opportunities for volunteering expeditions involving data collection with an emphasis on conservation in some of the world's most interesting environments.
- Global Xperience is a new volunteer website to us but seems to offer a good range of volunteer opportunities and helpfully categorizes them into specific areas of volunteering projects. They are a Gap Year/Career break services business offering young adults in particular the opportunity to volunteer and work with community, conservation and teaching projects worldwide.