Volunteer Travel
Reviews and ratings of quality, hand-picked, UK websites
African Conservation Experience
• www.conservationafrica.net
Headers: Conservation Volunteers
African Conservation Experience arranges for volunteers to work on game and nature reserves throughout Southern Africa. Volunteers work with game rangers, wildlife vets, biologists and conservationists. Placements are from 4 - 12 weeks. The focus is on educational conservation and the work is suitable for school leavers, graduates and undergraduates. Costs vary depending on the project and length of stay, but expect to pay around £2000 - £4000. The ACE produce a booklet "The A.C.E. Guide to Fun(d)-Raising" to help you raise the necessary cash!
BESO
• www.beso.org
Headers: Volunteer Assignments
BESO is a government funded organisation that provides skill and expertise, via a volunteer workforce, to developing economies throughout the world. You register with BESO and when they have a request for someone with your skills they will contact you. Assignments can last from 1 week to 3 months. BESO arranges and pays for travel and the client provides accomodation and pay all local expenses. BESO works in Africa & Middle East, Latin America & Caribbean, Asia & Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe and China.
Biosphere Expeditions
• www.biosphere-expeditions.org
Headers: Wildlife Conservation Expeditions
Biosphere Expeditions is a not for profit organisation that arranges wildlife conservation expeditions, where you will be actively involved in conservation work being conducted by scientists and local people. The expeditions are open to anyone and you can go for just 2 weeks or for several months if you prefer. Examples of expeditions are monkeys & macaws in Peru, elephant in Sri Lanka and snow leopards in the Altai mountains. Prices from around £100, excluding airflights.
Challenges Worldwide
• www.challengesworldwide.com
Headers: Short Term Voluntary Placements
Challenges Worldwide is a UK charity that places skilled volunteers overseas. Volunteers staty with a host family. Placements are available to skilled and unskilled volunteers. There is a very wide range of placement types from youth development to environmental projects. Costs are from around £200o to £3000 depending on length of stay plus you need to buy your air tickets.
Concordia
• www.concordia-iye.org.uk
Concodia, a youth charity, arranges short term community based international projects for young people in the age range 18-30. No special skills are required. Projects are from 2-4 weeks and food and accomodation is provided but note volunteers are expected to arrange and pay for their own travel.
Cross Cultural Solutions
• www.crossculturalsolutions.org
Headers: Volunteer Abroad
Short Term (2-12 weeks) volunteer assignments on community development projects where you work with local people on local projects, for example working with the blind or teaching English to local children. The placements are open to all ages and skill levels. Costs are from around £1300 and for this you get a personalised placement, training and insurance. You will have to pay for your own airfare. Cross Cultural Solutions is a non profit making organisation.
Earthwatch Institute
• www.earthwatch.org/europe
Headers: Worldwide Volunteer Expeditions
Earthwatch has dozens of projects worldwide covering a variety of fields from archaeology to endangered ecosytems. You can search by area, field of study or by time of year. there is a pdf document for each project which describes the project in detail, including volunteer assignments. Volunteers collect data under the scientists direction and need no special education or skills. Prices vary from $700 - $4000, excluding airfare.
Global Vision International
• www.gvi.co.uk
Headers: Worldwide Volunteer Expeditions
Global Vision has several, mostly wildlife, conservation projects and volunteer travel ranges in duration from 2 weeks to 1 year. Prices range from around £700, excluding airfares. In general, no special skills are needed.
Green Volunteers
• www.greenvol.com
Headers: Conservation Projects Guide
There are 2 guides you can buy here: World Volunteers, which details conservation projects worldwide, and Archaeo-Volunteers, which is a guide to archeological and heritage volunteering. The guides detail projects for anyone interested in volunteer work, from those new to volunteer travel to the more experienced.
International Voluntary Service
• www.ivs-gb.org.uk
IVS is the UK contact of SCI, Service Civil International, which is a worldwide network of organisations promoting pease and justice through voluntary work. In practice, the organisations is able to arrange volunteer oportunities on hundreds of projects worldwide which bring together voluntees from many different countries. Short term projects (2-3 weeks) needs no specific skills or qulifications and food and accomodation is provided, but you do have to provide and arrange your own ntravel. Long term projects (3-12 months) have specific job descriptions, so you will need relevant skills. The European Voluntary Service is for young people aged between 18-25 and has placements of 6-12 months. typical projects are community based and involve environmental, construction or renovation work.
Tackle Africa
www.tackleafrica.org
Headers: Football Volunteers
Tackle Africa, a UK based charity, arranges volunteer football teams to travel to a number of African communities taking part in football oriented events for the awareness of HIV/AIDS. Fees, including travel, are around £2500, but they do vary from project to project.
Volunteer Africa
www.volunteerafrica.org
Headers: Volunteer Community Project
Volunteer with Volunteer Africa and work alongside villagers on community initiated projects based in Tanzania. Anyone over 18 can apply and placements are 4, 7 or 10 week programmes. Prices start from around £950 and this includes training, food, accomodation and travel within Tanzania. Note, travel to and from Tanzania is extra.
Volunteer Travel
• www.i-to-i.com
Headers: Volunteer Travel
In addition to their TEFL courses, i-to-i also arrange volunteer travel in countries worldwide in Asia, Central America, Eastern Europe, Africa, South America and Ireland. You can volunteer on a project from between 1 and 24 weeks. You choose the project, which could be anything form teaching English to building homes to working on a conservation project. You can read some volunteer reports online and order a brochure if you wish. Project costs include full travel insurance, food and accommodation arrangements, emergency cover, a worldwide support network, and training provided for all volunteers (you might have to pay a small fee for accomodation on one or two of the projects). Full details on site. Notice, however, that the cost of the airfare is not included.
VSO
• www.vso.org.uk
Headers: Volunteer Services
Voluntary Services Overseas in an international development charity and uses volunteers to pass on skills to local communities in developing countries, with most placements for 2 years. VSO no longer caters just for school leavers - the average age of volunteers is 38. There is still a programme for 18-25 year old volunteers, however for other age ranges they are looking for qualified and experienced professionals. In exchange, you are given a living allowance, accomodation, insurance and flights plus training and support. Select your skill are here and you will be presented with a list of opportunities for which you can apply.
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