Personal advisor & 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 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.
3 placement 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.
Individual role description – we develop a role description for you that covers your title, core activities and a monthly breakdown of your tasks on your placement. You are included at every stage of the development of your role description, ensuring you get the best possible start to your placement, and that it is relevant to your long-term goals.
Contact with host organisation & volunteers – we introduce you to your host organisation and your supervisor at least 1 month before you depart, so you can communicate about your placement, gather reading materials and get to know your colleagues. 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 get practical advice and encouragement.
Training course – we run regular training courses in our London office to help prepare you for your placement. Each course has a maximum of 6 attendees meaning you will be able to talk directly about your placement and what you need to do to make sure your introductory weeks run smoothly. We also give you training manuals to work through to help prepare you for the challenges you will go through as a development volunteer. 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.
Help with visas & accommodation – we help you with arranging your visa, and have visa fact sheets to every country we work in, outlining what type of visa you need and how to get it. We also make sure your accommodation is arranged in advance of your start date according to your individual preferences.
Preparatory handbooks and country guides – you receive handbooks from us with recommended planning timetables and checklists, information about vaccines, travel safety, emergency procedures and more. Our fact sheets are written by previous volunteers and contain a wealth of contacts and information about the country you are volunteering in.
Fundraising pack & online account – you will receive a fundraising guide and a free online fundraising account with BMyCharity.
Airport meet – you will be met from the airport and your host supervisor will guide your placement from day one.
Monthly placement reviews & remote mentoring – our UK staff will monitor and evaluate your placement and use monthly feedback forms to assess when you need mentoring or support.
Regional 2Way Development staff – we have regional representatives in most of the locations we work in who will be able to visit you at your placement when needed.
Host supervisor – you will have an in country supervisor at your host organisation who will meet with you on a monthly basis as a minimum to talk through your placement as it develops, and guide your activities.
One to one de-brief – we meet with all our returned volunteers where possible to talk about a placement, go through feedback forms completed overseas and help develop a careers plan.
CV re-write – after your de-brief we will help re-write your CV to give you the best possible start with job-hunting.
Volunteer Alumni – we hope you will benefit just as much from the ongoing services we offer you when you return to the UK as an alumni volunteer.
Networking & careers events – our volunteer alumni receive free entry to our careers conferences, networking events, CV clinics and further careers sessions.