To find out what volunteering could do for you
Call 020 7193 6167

volunteer@2waydevelopment.com    

volunteer
placement

Annabelle, 26, International Human Rights Graduate to Documentation Intern, India, 9 months

volunteer
placement

Eugene, 31, Human Rights Investigation Officer to Project Facilitator, Cameroon, 3 months

volunteer
placement

Genevieve, 24, Development Studies Graduate to Project Coordinator, Guatemala, 9 months

volunteer
placement

Pam, 23, Journalist to Community Worker, Kenya, 2 months

volunteer
placement

Jonathan, 22, Economics Graduate to Economic Advisor, Cameroon, 1 year

volunteer
placement

Paula, 33, Social Worker to Care Worker, Zambia, 3 months

volunteer
placement

Rachel, 23, Anthropology Graduate to Fundraiser/Teacher, Kenya, 3 months

volunteer
placement

Virginia, 25, Post-graduate Natural Sciences to Environmental Researcher, India, 18 months

2Way Development places hundreds of volunteers every year to work with established development charities worldwide. All our placements are skills based, allowing volunteers to build up knowledge and experience, whilst contributing to a specific need in a charity or NGO.

Our service isn’t just about arranging placements though – we carefully tie in a lot of careers advice and personal support to ensure a placement works towards a volunteers long-term career goals in a very direct way.  Please read on...

Step 1 Placement plan – creating a plan is the first thing you should do when undertaking most kinds of important activities in your life. When planning a voluntary placement though, often planning is ignored in favour of buying an off the shelf placement for immediate satisfaction. For anyone who is thinking about volunteering overseas, it is very important to examine your motivations before making any final decisions on how to volunteer. Our personal placement advisors will work with you to create a placement plan that outlines your key motivations for a placement and how these can be met properly, before making any commitments.

Step 2 Options – we will present you with 3 placement options, selected from our database of over 100 partners, to match the goals set out in your placement plan.

Step 3 Role description – we develop a role description for you that covers your title, core activities and a monthly breakdown of your tasks. The aims and objectives we set now are used to measure the outcomes of your placement over time. You are included at every stage of the development of your role description, ensuring you get the best possible start to your placement.

Step 4 Pre-departure – as well as attending a group-training course, your personal placement advisor will talk through your role description, plans, questions and concerns individually before you leave. We help you with visas and accommodation, and our handbooks and fact sheets cover everything else you need to think about such as vaccines, travel safety, emergency procedures, contacts, ideas and more. We also introduce you to our network of returned volunteers so you can talk to others about your placement, role outline, the country you are going to and generally get practical advice and encouragement. 

Step 5 Overseas – you will be met from the airport and your host supervisor will guide your placement from day one. We will monitor your placement from the UK, offering remote mentoring and support. We also have regional representatives in most of the locations we work in who will be able to visit you at your placement when needed.

Step 6 Return – after a personal de-brief we will re-write your CV and give you clear careers recommendations. You will also become part of our growing volunteer alumni and receive free entry to our careers conferences, networking events and talks. 

  • Choice – we don’t believe you should have to pick a generic placement off the shelf, so we hand pick your placement choices to match your individual goals and motivations.
  • Speed – you will be in your placement within 3-6 months of contacting us.
  • Flexibility – you choose start dates, duration (minimum 3 months) and locations to suit you.
  • Individual experiences – your placement will come with a personalised role description, so you know your efforts will make a difference to you and our partner charities.
  • Careers guidance – we use your placement plan and feedback forms to help make careers recommendations when you get home and re-write your CV.
  • Personal advice – from day one you receive a personal advisor who selects your options, arranges the details of your placement, accommodation, visas and more. We also offer you mentoring when overseas and careers advice when you get home.
  • A knowledge bank – we have placed hundreds of volunteers over the years and all these experiences have helped us develop in-house training courses, country fact sheets, preparatory manuals and a network of contacts for you to draw on. We are also a recognised partner of the Foreign Office's ‘Know Before You Go’ Campaign and as a result we offer all our volunteers free and comprehensive guides on overseas support and travel safety.
  • A support network – our UK staff, overseas representatives, your host organisation and our network of volunteers all offer you support before, during and after your placement.
  • A volunteer community – once a volunteer with us you will be part of our alumni for life, and will be invited to events, talks and conferences on an ongoing basis. 
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