Gap Year Volunteering
Find out about fantastic volunteering opportunities overseas by browsing the range of voluntary work projects below. Volunteer work with projects abroad in developing countries are a great way to make the most of your gap year.
Whatever your skills and interests, there's something out there for you whether it's volunteer work with children, or getting work experience in teaching, healthcare or the environment. Volunteering abroad can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience, and will really improve your CV giving you a great start in your career. Take a look at some of the opportunities below and spend part or all of your gap year on a voluntary project.
Gap Year Volunteering
GapGuru
Gap year specialist offering exciting volunteer, travel and internship opportunities across Africa, Asia, South America and Europe. Discover new countries and cultures and immerse yourself in local communities, while helping those in genuine need.
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Volunteering with Real Gap
Real Gap offers opportunities to volunteer whilst travelling.This a brilliant way to not only give back to your host destination but also great for your own personal development.
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Travellers Worldwide
Choose from over 300 exciting projects in 20 countries!!
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The Leap
Winner Best Gap Year Company (Sunday Times) Volunteering, summer gap, horse and internships in Africa, South America and Asia. All programmes contain our unique mix of projects, locations and challenges.
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i to i Volunteering
Take one of i to i Volunteering's trips and you'll work on locally run projects that benefit local communities in which they live. You'll become part of the local community and have the kind of authentic & cultural experiences that package tourists can’t.
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Raleigh International
Unique and challenging adventure, community and environmental projects overseas.
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Inspire
Diverse volunteer projects across Africa, Asia, South America and Europe. Volunteer abroad with Inspire to match your skills and aspirations to projects in genuine need. Projects include volunteer teaching, childcare, healthcare, conservation, business and community work.
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Think Pacific
Volunteer in Fiji! Building, teaching, sports coaching combined with an island safari.
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Personal Overseas Development (PoD)
Volunteer with non-profit organisation PoD on a range of animal care, building, child care and orphanages, conservation, teaching and community development projects around the world.
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African Conservation Experience
African Conservation provide all ages with the opportunity to work alongside experienced zoologists, marine biologists, conservationists, wildlife vets and reserve managers In southern Africa.
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Intrax
Volunteering in Belize, Brazil, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru, Thailand and more. Projects with children, education, health and the environment. Internships and Jobs in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
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International Volunteer HQ
International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ) provides safe and extremely affordable volunteer trips abroad. We have programs in over 18 different countries and send over 5000 volunteers abroad annually.
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Projects Abroad
Fantastic volunteer and internship opportunities for 16 – 75 year olds. Projects run in 28 countries and include Teaching, Care, Community, Sports, Medicine, Conservation, Law and Human Rights and Journalism placements.
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Kaya Responsible Travel
Over 250 projects across 26 countries in Asia, Africa & Latin America. Choose to work with wildlife & environmental conservation or community projects. Skilled & unskilled positions from 2 weeks to 6 months.
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BUNAC
Spend from 2 weeks to 24 months volunteering, working or interning on any continent in the world with BUNAC, the work and volunteer abroad experts.
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A Broader View
A Broader View Volunteers Corp Over 190 projects across 21 countries in Asia, Africa &Latin America. Work in community developing projects from teaching, sports & medical missions to building, childcare &many more. Skilled and unskilled positions from 1 weeks to 3 months.
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So How Can You Volunteer in Your Year Out?
Volunteer work can be done almost anywhere in the world and can offer you an experience you will never forget. You don’t have to volunteer for a full year. Most gap year organisations run volunteering projects overseas and in the UK from a few weeks to a few months. If you want to volunteer in Africa, for example, you could get volunteer work building villages, helping in a hospital or teaching in schools. You could even get a position where you work with animals - perfect if you're passionate about wildlife and conservation, or are studying a related subject at university or college.
So what exactly is volunteering? How can you become a volunteer? Volunteering is basically when you give your time free of charge to help an organisation or a project. In return for your help, you get the chance to get involved with something really positive, to make a difference in a community, and add valuable work experience to your CV. You will also learn a lot about working with different people, and working as part of a team. Any employer will be impressed by a really good voluntary placement on a CV.
You can find voluntary work with organisations offering placements in developing countries such as those in Africa or South America, where they really appreciate having young, enthusiastic English speakers who can help out free of charge in communities or on conservation projects. Alternatively, you can volunteer in the UK with a charity, or in European countries if you can speak the relevant language. International volunteering has the advantage of including travel and the possibility of learning a language and about different cultures, as well as giving the chance to build it into a longer term travel plan for your year out. Volunteering with a UK based charity gives you the chance to get some work experience which might be relevant for your career choices. Whether you want to work in an orphanage as a community or medical volunteer or on a nature reserve as a conservation volunteer, the organisations in this section will have something to offer you.
