I have taken an interest in volunteer work abroad for this summer...?

Question

..and have come across Original Volunteers on www.originalvolunteers.co.uk.

Has anyone had any experience with them at all or even recommend any other volunteer organisations?

Thanks all!

Answer 1

This looks like a commercial company to me - they are not a charity and dont have a .org URL.

Organisations looking for people to volunteer abroad are generally looking for you to have skills to offer. I would go direct to the organisations themsleves, like VSO, Oxfam, Save the Children, etc. Apply now as they need to plan ahead.

Answer 2

Wow, ditto to what Sweet Jane said! I was going to post a volunteer organization that I have found to be the cheapest out there (Global Volunteer Network - in case you feel like checking it out anyway - they do have good prices and some really interesting placements, like refugee camps, etc). But when I looked at the prices for Original Volunteers, they're definitely very good! I'm wondering if there's a "catch" so I'm interested in contacting them for more information.

EDIT - I've just looked through the website and there's a very high application fee, and in many cases accommodation and/or meals are not included. This increases the cost significantly. You may want to look into GVN (above) because they have a wider range of placements and possibly a better price once you factor all these extra costs in.

Answer 3

wow, ok well I was going to give you one of my favorites, for their low costs....but this one beats them....so thanks for the link!! It is a great experience and I wish you luck!!

EDIT: I did some more research...while they are not listed as a registered charity, the Guardian (british paper) features them in this article...http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/ju...

Another group also tried to find out info on them, but they were, so far, unsuccessful in getting much...http://www.gap-year.com/browse.asp?catID...

While that doesn't mean they aren't legit....I would still try my best to be very careful with the money I sent....the 295.00 is not a huge price at all, in fact it is still very low in comparison, but only if you get what you are promised....

Answer 4

No information on if they are for-profit or nonprofit, no listing of where the HQ is, no list of staff or board of directors, no statistics on how many volunteers they've placed, and not a member of IVPA.... suspicious, suspicious, suspicious.... and their description of why to volunteer abroad is VERY old school. And no blogs from their current and previous volunteers? .... suspicious, suspicious, suspicious....

Here's a list of questions to ask them (near the bottom of the page), if you decide you want to pursue this further (I wouldn't):

http://www.coyotecommunications.com/volu...

There is a listing of the more-than-30 member organizations of the International Volunteers Program Association (IVPA) that is a good place to find reputable volunteer-for-a-fee programs:

http://www.volunteerinternational.org/