Quite a lot ... proessionalism, partnerships, transparency, matching, support

partnerships
Our local heroes are our partners - not our employees - and many of them are also award-winners in ethical and responsible travel. They have years of experience in travel and tourism - as well as being in and of their communities, where they work year round, knowing them well and understanding their needs. 

They work with the projects in helping them to identify needs and priorities - they understand what their communities really want. Our job at people and places is to find the right volunteers to answer those needs.

people and places volunteers never replace local workers, or do jobs they can do for themselves. Our volunteers work with them - sharing skills, experience and expertise - helping local people to build the futures that they want for themselves.

This partnership approach also applies to the relationship between people and places and our volunteers. We don't just pay lip service to our  principles - we act  accordingly, maintaining full transparency in all that we do. Ask us anything about your volunteering and we'll give you an honest answer ... and if we don't immediately have the answer to your question, we'll find out and let you know!

money matters
Our transparency also applies in financial matters - you'll be spending your hard-earned money, not ours, and we'll make sure that you know how and where it's being spent.

the right people in the right places
Also important is the way in which we match volunteers with projects. Because we're working so closely with our local partners, we can target each volunteer's abilities and experience to the specific needs of the project. Your placement is therefore as close as it comes to being 'tailor-made'...

support
Last, but by no means least, is the level of support provided to volunteers - not just by us in preparing you for your placement, but also the full-time support of our local partners while you're there.

(Want some advice on how to check out all the volunteer  organisations you are researching?
 Take a look at Questions you should ask.)

Safety is an important issue for all of us - people and places, volunteers and local communities.

Our local partners work closely with us in making all reasonable efforts to ensure your safety and that of the community, but you must also take some responsibility for your own safety. As with all societies there will be risks or dangers, but if you follow the advice of your local hosts, there is no reason for your safety to be at any risk. Our partners are responsible and professional people, and are there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Each placement varies slightly as to exactly how your money is spent, but we guarantee that at least 80% of what you pay - for placements of 4 weeks or more - is spent in the host country, where it is needed most.

An example for each project is given on individual project pages, and the specific details will be fully explained to you when your placement is confirmed.

We believe that part of our responsibility to volunteers and communities is that we take all reasonable steps to ensure their safety. We therefore require 2 references for each volunteer as well as an appropriate criminal records screening for all placements. Volunteers will be in contact  with vulnerable adults and children during their placements.

In the UK, such screening is carried out by the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS). The DBS will check their own computer, and those of individual police forces, to check for relevant criminal records.

There is a cost attached to this process - currently £24 -  covering administration and tracking. This is the only payment we request of volunteers before their placement is agreed. And it is not paid to us but directly to the screening organisation with whom we work.

The clearance document will be sent both to the volunteer and to us. We will not be able to offer a placement without this document (or its equivalent in the case of other nationalities - where costs may differ)

Read our disclosure policy

To learn more about CRB Disclosure go to www.homeoffice.gov.uk/dbs

We will furnish you with full instructions for DBS screening during the matching and placement process.

The fastest confirmation we've ever made was in just 3 weeks from registration to departure date ... but that is VERY unusual, and was only possible because the volunteer already held a current criminal records clearance, and was super-efficient in communicating with us.

2-3 months is a far more usual period of time between our receiving a new registration and confirmation of a volunteer's placement..

So - why does it take so long? Because both you and the project should be able to gain mutual benefit from your volunteer placement - and to maximise the potential, it's really important that you're both properly prepared for your time in working together.

You need time to make an informed decision and learn about where you're going, who you'll be working with, what you'll be doing, where you'll be living ... and probably more! You need to talk with other volunteers who've already worked there so that you can learn from their experience too ...

The local people you'll be working with also need time to make an informed decision, to make plans for how to make the best use of your time with them, to understand as much as possible about you as a person ... and probably, more!

We have a well-practised matching process that helps us to put the right people in the right places - at the right time!  Please read the "about" pages - there's an outline of the process there as well as information about us and how we work. 

Now you can begin to see why thorough preparation takes time! Treat with caution any organisation that will happily send you off to a project at very short notice!

While you're making plans to volunteer, you'll also find that our "questions to ask" will help you make the right choices.  

Not at all – we can arrange volunteer placements for any nationality!

Some destinations or projects may have specific visa or language requirements ... but we can talk with you about all of that, as well as help you to identify the best project for you, once we have your registration.

It’s as important for you and the project as it is us that we put the right people in the right places – at the right time!

 No - none whatsoever! You may have and local people may have, but our only firm belief is that individuals can share and learn from each other, if they're open and willing to do so.

Generally speaking, volunteers are expected to work about 5 or 6 hours a day for a 5-day week. Scheduled work times and days will depend on the project and your own role and input, but please be prepared to allow for some flexibility while you're there. 

The principles of responsible volunteering are fundamental in all that we do, and there is plenty of information throughout the site about how we achieve it.

If you take the time to read the 'about' section, you will appreciate that we do all we can to enable you to be a responsible volunteer, and that this also entails a level of commitment on your part.

When you register with people and places, you agree to abide by our terms and conditions.

In addition, you will enter into a contractural agreement with the relevant local team - Read More.

We provide as much information and documentation as we can - as do our local partners. You will get this well in advance of your trip. You will also be encouraged to contact previous volunteers who will be able to add yet more information. Of course you can contact us at any time if you are unsure of anything.

Please contact us at any time. Even when your placement is confirmed, and you are in direct contact with our local partners, you should email us if you are unclear about anything. email us

You will need to do this yourself, but we can offer suggestions for international travel.  

Our local partners will be able to help with any travel arrangements you may want to make once in your host country.

At this early stage, we can't really help you - every country has different visa requirements for different nationals.

Once we are further along in the process of creating a match between you and a project, then we shall be able to give you advice according to where you're from and where you'll be going.

This will vary depending on the destination and the nature of the project: you may share a local family home;  you may be in a local guesthouse or bed and breakfast ... you may even be in a tent for some of the time ... or if there's a conveniently located 5-star hotel, you could choose that option if that's what you really want!

Wherever possible we offer a choice of accommodation according to local availability, and will discuss your options with our local partners and with you. If you have any special requirements - ground floor room, city centre hotel, middle of nowhere, under canvas, self-catering to full board - please let us know. We will always do our best to meet your genuine needs and requests.

Simply complete our registration form - which neither commits you to anything, nor costs you anything (other than a few minutes of your time!)

We'll then contact you by email so that we can begin working with you to discuss a project and placement ...

And a few points to bear in mind when you fill in youir registration:
* please tell us as much as you can about your skills, work experience etc.
* completing the registration doesn't commit you to anything
* information you provide will be treated confidentially

Many travellers think that their standard travel policy provides full cover for their time as a volunteer - this is not necessarily the case!

Please check your policy carefully - it may specifically exclude cover for the time that you're actually working as a volunteer.

If in doubt, please contact VolunteerInsure - they can give you advice and a quote based on the actual risk assessments for each project. We have worked with them to produce a specific insurance cover for volunteering and they are offering our volunteers very competative rates.
Visit their website

Because there are real costs involved, and as a responsible organisation, we believe that it's wrong to expect economically poor communities to subsidise volunteers in any way. Many volunteer recruitment organisations demand that communities subsidise volunteers because 'after all, you're getting their time for free.'

This is unacceptable to us.

Providing volunteers with what they need costs money – a safe environment, 24-hour emergency contacts, a place to stay, food to eat, tools or equipment to complete their roles – all this has to be paid for, and neither people and places nor the projects are funded through government or a big NGO. Without volunteers being self-funding, the projects themselves would not have sufficient resources to run a volunteer programme.

Each project is individually costed – the breakdown of these costs and how your money is spent is detailed on the individual project pages. 

If you’ve any questions about the costs, please don’t hesitate to ask! people and places commits to economic transparency and that at least 80% of your money will reach the host country.

There are several ways that you may wish to fundraise to support your plans to volunteer - take a look at the Volunteer Forever website - this is a good secure way for you to fundraise!

This depends on you and the project together.

Most projects will benefit from volunteer input of at least 1 month. Our longest placement to date has been for 3 months, but so long as both volunteer and project can really benefit and the placement is appropriately designed, there's no finite length of time!

Some projects are specifically designed for short-term input in support of longer-term aims, and therefore we can offer occasional placements of as little as 1 week.

Regardless of how long you're there, your input is part of a bigger picture - overall sustainability requires a flow of volunteers 'passing the baton' from one to the next.

Highly unlikely - there's a lot to do, and it all takes time!

It has been known in exceptional circumstances for our process to be completed within 6 weeks, but it normally takes about 3 months.

You'll need to do your research, we'll need references and appropriate screening, the project will need to be sure that your input will be carefully targeted and worthwhile - everyone involved needs to be properly prepared.

Treat with caution any organisation which is able to place you at very short notice.

You' re already reading it!

For a pdf. of our introductory leaflet click here.


We don't print brochures and mail outs for two main reasons:

* expense - we'd rather see your money being spent where it's needed most
* organic nature of the projects - each and every volunteer input is part of an ever-changing emphasis. A particular task may be needed this month, but may well evolve, change or not be needed at all by the time the next volunteer is there.

Why produce a glossy brochure (or even a cheap-and-cheerful one) when we would constantly need to revise it?

We don't produce glossy brochures - we want to ensure that as much as possible of your hard earned cash reaches and stays in your host county. For a pdf of our introductory leaflet download here
We have also produced a leaflet with web resources  and questions to ask volunteer sending organisations download here
 

Yes - but we really do not expect you to!
Each project page clearly details how much of your placement price is a "donation " to the project.
If you or friends and family want to raise more money for your project , you can do this through our charity
TravelPledge
Or through a great website - Volunteer Forever - where several of our volunters have alreday raised significant amounts towards their own volunteering costs !

the short answer: over 18

the longer explanation:

For individual volunteers, we require them to have reached their nationally applicable age of majority by the date that their travel begins – which in the UK, is 18 years of age. It is possible for us to arrange placements for under-18’s if they are accompanied by a responsible adult, such as parent, guardian or friend who can act in loco parentis, but it would be irresponsible of us to expect local communities to take on this role.

This is a fundamental element in our responsibilities – to local communities as well as to volunteers. Each volunteer’s abilities and experience is carefully considered as part of the matching process – differing needs within a project mean that some are more appropriate than others for different age groups.

We have no maximum age limit – although we have responsibilities to older volunteers as well. As part of our matching and preparation process, all volunteers are required to provide quite a lot of information, not least of which is confirmation of adequate and appropriate health and insurance cover.

Family groups: some of the projects we work with offer great opportunities for family groups – in South Africa, for example, a recent famly group consisted of grandmother, mother, daughter and cousin – aged between 79 and 15. In a community where family ties are a cultural strength, you will no doubt appreciate what a popular group placement this was!

The full process towards a confirmed volunteer placement can take some time – usually from 2 to 3 months. So, even if you're under18 at the moment, we could begin working with you now towards a possible placement when you are of age … (We are currently working with several under-18’s towards placements in the future)

Volunteer Forever have created a comprehensive online fundraising solution to help you raise funds towards your volunteering experience.

Every volunteer has individual experiences and skills – whether professional or non-professional.

There are so many ways in which you can help – you may have professional qualifications in health or social care, education, finance; perhaps you have skills in IT, small business, horticulture; maybe you have experience of sports, drama, arts & crafts, music, cookery, music … 

We work with each volunteer as an individual - your placement will be as close to being 'tailor-made' as possible. We will ensure the best possible match between your own strengths and a project's needs.

We don't know yet what you will be doing - but once we have your registration, we will discuss ideas with you, as well as with our local partners and projects. We'll make sure you and the project are thoroughly prepared for your placement . Working together, we can create a 'win'win' situation - a mutually rewarding experience for you and your project. 

Take a look at the "about" pages and you can read more about how we put the right people in the right places!

Then talk with us - we'll help you find the placement that is right for you.