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placement

Annabelle, 26, Law 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

Our Placement Model

Our placement model provides an alternative to government funded schemes that can be inflexible and competitive, and ‘voluntourism’ programmes that can be expensive and impersonal. We believe that individually arranging placements for volunteers in already established charities overseas is the best way to match their skills and ambitions to the needs of communities. By charging a one off administration fee to cover our costs, we are able to prioritise and focus on our volunteer’s needs, which allows them the opportunity to reach their individual goals. What’s important to us is that volunteers receive the flexibility they need to select the best possible experience to suit them. 

Alternative Models

Voluntourism Explained

There are literally 100’s of commercial ‘gap’ year style companies in the UK (we are not one of them!) that organise generic, all-inclusive volunteering programmes. Whilst these programmes offer a lot of overseas support and up front information, they are designed to function as a ‘one size fits all’ experience to maximise profits, rather than facilitating a personal match of organisational needs to a volunteer’s skills. The programme costs are high, and generally suit younger, less skilled volunteers.

Government-funded Placements

In the UK, Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) receives approx £30 million in aid every year from our government’s Department for International Development to offer roughly 500 funded long-term overseas placements. If you are fortunate enough to be accepted onto a VSO placement these experiences are recommended.  But consider that VSO receives over 10,000 applications a year for these placements that tend to last 1-2 years.  

Our Partners

Our solid partnerships with on the ground charities allow us to place volunteers into direct areas of need, according to their skills. Through 2Way Development, our partner organisations have a direct link to skilled volunteers that would often otherwise be unavailable. By assisting with capacity building, volunteers can contribute to international development in a sustainable way, whilst building their own skills and knowledge. Our ongoing relationship with our partners is very important to us and we have many of our UK and overseas staff devoted to continually strengthening our relations with our partner charities. 

Countries

  • Bangladesh
  • Cambodia
  • Cameroon
  • Fiji
  • Guatemala
  • India
  • Kenya
  • Lebanon
  • Mexico
  • Morocco
  • Nepal
  • Paraguay
  • Rwanda
  • Tanzania
  • Uganda

 

Partner Profiles

We give our volunteers the information they need to be able to choose the best possible placement to suit their goals and preferences. All the information we collect about our partners through our vetting process is available to our volunteers via online partner profiles that are up to date and informative. Partner profiles contain a clear description of the volunteer positions available within an organisation, plus key information on: legal status, languages, staff numbers and roles, office set up and hours, project information, financial information, and volunteer information including roles and needs for volunteers and accommodation details.  Partner profiles also include our country ‘fact sheets’ with practical location specific information, largely written by returned volunteers. 


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