Choosing to make a difference to a community overseas and volunteering abroad is becoming increasingly popular.

There are a number of different ways you can contribute; depending on where you want to go and what you want to do. Some people choose to take a volunteering holiday; work for a weekend, week or fortnight and return home. Others choose to integrate a volunteering placement, either domestically or internationally, into their gap year. There are specialist organisations that cater specifically for international, holiday and gap year volunteers but it is also possible to arrange your own placement.

To give you an idea of some of the general type of placements available:

• Aid and humanitarian work – whether it’s helping supply food or medicine to those in need or assisting with more specific medical care there are opportunities to get involved in some extremely rewarding voluntary work.
• Conservation – help to rebuild communities; towns, cities, buildings and facilities that may have been damaged by war or natural disasters.
• Working with animals – work to preserve natural habitats and work with rare and endangered species of animals.
• Working in schools and teaching English – there are lots of opportunities to get involved with teaching English as a foreign language programmes all over the world. It is possible to volunteer in schools in regions and countries that aren’t able to provide as much funding towards education.
• Outdoor education and camps – become a camp counsellor for summer holiday camps across the world. Opportunities also exist to volunteer in outdoor education centres; an ideal placement for anyone who enjoys sports, the outdoors and working with young people.

Combining your international voluntary placement with a Gap Year

Many people that volunteer abroad decide to organise their placement with part of a larger trip; usually taking on a voluntary project at the beginning of their year out before spending the remainder of the time travelling. There are several advantages to organising this kind of gap year:

• The charity or organisation may be able to make a contribution to some of your travel costs
• The opportunity to get invaluable experience for a related course or career on your return
• Some form of accommodation and meals may be provided for part of your trip
• See sights that you’d never normally be able to see
• Meet people from radically different backgrounds and make a huge difference to their lives
• Make friends with people from all over the world!

Planning your gap year volunteering

There are a lot of considerations when planning your gap year volunteering; things like:

• Where you want to go
• What you want to do
• How long you want the placement to last
• How much money you will need to raise for the whole trip

Fortunately there is plenty of help available to make organising things easier:

• Your local Volunteer Centre will be happy to offer guidance and assistance planning your gap year volunteering. Have a look at the Volunteer Centre Network Scotland website to find out where their nearest office is and arrange an appointment
• gapadvice.org is a website that stores a huge amount of information and advice on planning all kinds of gap years and career breaks.

International Voluntary/Gap Year Organisations

There are lots of organisations and charities that specialise in gap year opportunities if you want to volunteer but don't know where to start. Check out the links to the organisations at the side of the page. They are all have information on gap year voluntary opportunities.

Ethical volunteering

If you’re concerned about the impact your volunteering might have on the environment or local community then you will probably want to take extra care when planning your trip. If you’re organising an international volunteer project and want to ensure that your actions are sustainable, eco-friendly and beneficial to the local community then you may find the Ethical Volunteering website helpful. Check out the link at the side of the page.