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Gap year opportunities

Gap year opportunities

 

As well as doing something to benefit society, you could be improving your employment prospects. If you are interested in learning new skills you may also find our gap year information useful.

To add a volunteer work opportunity to this page, email volunteerswanted@prospects.ac.uk.

Featured gap year providers

  • Logo: Big Beyond

    • Big Beyond
    • 2-week to 12-month tailored volunteer placements currently open in Uganda and Malawi. Opportunities available include but not limited to: marketing, enterprise, events, education, research, environmental, tourism, health and culture and many more.
    • Location: Africa
    • Tel: +44 (0)800 644 6203
    • Email: answers@bigbeyond.org
    • Address: 5 The Stable Yard, Woodhayes Farm, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4TP

  • Logo: CAPS - Home to home

     

    • Location: Spain
    • Tel: (00 34) 93 864 88 86
    • Email: caps@hometohome.es 
    • Address: Riereta, 2, 08184 Palau-Solità i Plegamans, Barcelona 

  • Logo: Concordia

    • Concordia
    • Volunteering projects in more than 60 countries. Choose from 20 different types of project lasting from 2 weeks to 12 months including teaching, conservation and childcare.

  • Logo: Kaya Responsible Travel

    • Kaya Responsible Travel
    • Combine world travel and work experience to improve lives, environments and your CV, on over 180 volunteering projects across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
    • Location: Asia, Africa and Latin America
    • Tel: 0161 870 6212
    • Email: info@KayaVolunteer.com
    • Address: Kaya Responsible Travel, Technology House, Lissadel St, Salford, Manchester M6 6AP

  • Logo: Lattitude Global Volunteering

    • Lattitude Global Volunteering
    • International youth development and volunteering charity, offering placements in the areas of teaching, community work, outdoor education, medicine and conservation.
    • Location: Worldwide
    • Tel: +44 (0) 118 959 4914
    • Fax: +44 (0) 118 957 6634
    • Email: volunteer@lattitude.org.uk
    • Address: 42 Queens Road, Reading RG1 4BB

  • Logo: PoD

    • PoD
    • 1 week to 6 month animal, child care, teaching and conservation projects available in Asia, Africa, Central and South America.
    • Location: Asia, Africa, Central and South America
    • Tel: +44 (0) 1242 250 901
    • Website: www.podvolunteer.org
    • Email: info@podvolunteer.org
    • Address: PoD, Formal House, 60 St George’s Place, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 3PN

  • Logo: Projects Abroad

    • Projects Abroad
    • We offer placements in 28 different countries ranging from volunteering with children, conservation work and internships. Placements range from 2 weeks to 6 months.
    • Location: Worldwide
    • Tel: 01903 708 300
    • Fax: 01903 501026
    • Email: info@projects-abroad.co.uk
    • Address: Aldsworth Parade, Goring, Sussex BN12 4TX

  • Logo: Raleigh International

    • Raleigh International
    • We offer 5, 7 and 10-week overseas expeditions to remote areas, where you can volunteer on sustainable community and environmental projects, and take on a tough adventure challenge. 

  • Logo: SL Volunteers

    • SL Volunteers
    • Our volunteers undertake community work at children’s homes, youth centres and special needs centres.

  • Logo: Smaller Earth

    • Smaller Earth
    • Paid work and travel programmes, internships and volunteering opportunities available in Australia, Canada, China, Thailand, America, Nepal, Hungary, Zambia and more...

  • Logo: TEFL Heaven

    • TEFL Heaven 
    • 5 to 11-month paid internships and 6-week summer volunteering in Thailand. Teaching roles available in South Korea, China, Vietnam, Chile, Costa Rica and others.

  • Logo: Travellers Worldwide

    • Travellers Worldwide
    • Choose from voluntary placements worldwide in: care and community; teaching; sports; work experience internships; conservation; marine; language courses; cultural courses; and drama, dance and music.
    • Location: 21 countries worldwide
    • Tel: 01903 502595
    • Fax: 01903 708179
    • Email: info@travellersworldwide.com
    • Address: 2A Caravelle House, 17-19 Goring Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN12 4AP
 

Gap year providers A to Z

 
    • 3H Fund
    • Volunteer carers are needed to give a week of their time in August to help a disabled person enjoy a great holiday.
    • Location: Kepplewray, Cumbria
    • Contact: Lynne Loving
    • Tel: 01892 860207
    • Email: info@3hfund.org.uk
    • Avon Tyrrell
    • We are looking for volunteers who can help us in our listed 65-acre estate, which includes formal gardens, woodlands, fishing/boating lakes, campsites and activity areas.
    • Location: New Forest
    • Contact: Louis
    • Tel: 01425 675101 DDI or 07818 403114
    • Email: Louis@ukyouth.org
    • Barnado's
    • We are looking for volunteers to support our disabled children and young people in play activities.
    • Barnardo’s and POPS (Partners of Prisoners and Families Support)
    • We are recruiting volunteers to work alongside our play staff to encourage children who are visiting their fathers or other male relatives in Wymott Prison to engage in art, craft and play activities.
    • Blue Ventures
    • Volunteer for an award-winning organisation at the forefront of marine conservation.
    • Location: Madagascar, Malaysia and Belize
    • Tel: 0203 176 0548
    • Email: enquiries@blueventures.org
    • Address: Unit 2d Aberdeen Centre, 22-24 Highbury Grove, London N5 2EA
    • Cactus Volunteers Abroad  
    • Volunteer placements worldwide, providing unique travel and work experiences to people of all ages and backgrounds.
    • Location: Worldwide
    • Tel: 0845 130 4775 or +44 1273 725 200 (outside UK)
    • Challenges Worldwide  
    • Placements in strategy and planning, research, project management, marketing, HR, engineering, IT and law.
    • Climate Squad Blog
    • A community of 16-25 year olds volunteering to combat climate change is recruiting members for its Steering Group. The team is also looking for an intern to support the the delivery of the project and 300 volunteers to undertake an accredited, residential Sustainable Community Leadership course.
    • Concordia  
    • International volunteer projects including conservation, restoration, archaeology, construction, arts, children’s play-schemes and teaching.
    • Coral Cay Conservation  
    • Our projects run all year round, and we are currently working on coral reefs assisting with long-term conservation goals for the benefit of all those involved.
    • Location: Cambodia, Philippines and Tobago
    • Email: info@coralcay.org
    • Address: Coral Cay Conservation, Block 1, Floor 1, Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, Waterloo SE1 7NQ
    • Drop in for a chat anytime or for one of our presentations every month.
    • Community Service Volunteers (CSV)  
    • Volunteers (aged18-35) needed for exciting and challenging positions and placements supporting adults and children with disabilities, and others. Must be willing to live away from home for 4-12 months.
    • Location: UK
    • Tel: 0800 374 991
    • Daryeel  
    • Projects include child and women welfare and health and water supplies. We need volunteers with a variety of skills to work within PR and fundraising.
    • Location: Somaliland, Africa
    • Tel: 01895 422041
    • Mobile: 07985 777785
    • Email: maabdi80@yahoo.com
    • Please email your CV stating which position(s) you are interested in.
    • Deafblind UK
    • Our volunteer befriender scheme offers people the chance to make a real difference in their community by offering friendship to a local deafblind person. No experience necessary.
    • Location: UK
    • Contact: Lisa Bloodworth
    • Tel: 0800 132320
    • Fax: 01733 358356
    • Email: info@deafblind.org.uk
    • Address: Head Office, Deafblind UK, Cygnet Road, Hampton, Peterborough PE7 8FD
    • Development in Action  
    • Volunteers required to work as project workers with NGOs in India, in the fields of education, environment, disability and microcredit.
    • Earthwise Valley  
    • Not-for-profit rainforest conservation and sustainable living project. Volunteer EcoAdventure programmes offer a combination of earthy projects and low-key outdoor adventures - camping, seakayaking, forest walks.
    • Location: 2 hours from Auckland, New Zealand
    • Ecoteer  
    • We are a volunteering website that offers the chance to volunteer in over 40 different countries at eco-lodges, schools, conservation and humanitarian/community development projects.
    • Edinburgh Cyrenians  
    • Residential volunteering placements of six months in either an organic farm or city setting. Volunteers live and work alongside vulnerable homeless young people to let them learn to live independently.
    • La Esperanza Granada  
    • We work mainly with the early grades, tutoring children, motivating them, animating them and trying to improve their esteem. In schools with few resources you can make a real difference in creating an both an incentive in attending school and an interest in learning.
    • Freshwinds  
    • The charity has been offering care and support without charge, to adults and children living with life-limiting illnesses, as well as individuals with socially excluded backgrounds.
    • Frontier  
    • Dive, teach, trek, explore with Frontier. Volunteers needed to work on conservation (marine and terrestrial), teaching, orphanage, and development projects throughout the world.
    • Location: Costa Rica, Tanzania, Madagascar, Cambodia and Figi
    • Tel: 020 7613 2422
    • Email: info@frontier.ac.uk
    • GapGuru  
    • Projects range from working in orphanages in Romania to crocodile conservation in India.
    • Location: India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Romania, Ecuador and Chile
    • Tel: 0800 032 33 50
    • Email: Katie@gapguru.com
    • Gemin-i  
    • Web designers required for new project. Also research, PR and the creation of educational materials needed.
    • Gapforce  
    • We offer expeditions and adventures, with activities including rainforest and marine conservation, teaching, healthcare, childcare and infrastructure development.
    • Location: Costa Rica, South Africa, Canada
    • Tel: 0207 384 3343
    • Email: info@gapforce.org
    • Girlguiding Scotland  
    • Volunteer opportunities in management, running events, IT, PR, marketing, accounting to working in the units. We are short of leaders.
    • Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
    • Contact: Margaret Patrizio, Marketing and Communications Manager
    • Tel: 0131 226 4511
    • Fax: 0131 220 4828
    • Email: marketing@girlguiding-scot.org.uk
    • Groundwork  
    • Environmental management. Volunteers will assist the project officers in one or more of the following: communities, business, education, youth work and practical environmental work.
    • Intercultural Youth Exchange (ICYE)  
    • Projects vary from working with human rights groups to HIV and AIDS awareness programmes, from supporting street children to environmental conservation projects. ICYE-UK can also offer fully funded voluntary placements in Europe.
    • Location: Asia, Africa and Latin America
    • Tel: 0207 681 0983
    • Email: info@icye.co.uk
    • Impact Initiatives
    • Educational and social opportunities for older people in a dynamic charitable organisation, including befriending, passenger assistants, coordinating activities and more.
    • Info Nepal  
    • Our placements include teaching English, health and sanitation, environmental awareness and local community projects.
    • Kith and Kids  
    • Lots of volunteers needed for fun-filled holiday activities with children and adults with learning disabilities.
    • Location: London
    • Contact: Helen Robertson
    • Tel: 020 8801 7432
    • Email: projects@kithandkids.org.uk 
    • Address: Kith and Kids, The Irish Centre, Pretoria Road, London N17 8DX
    • Kiya Survivors  
    • We offer volunteer opportunities for two, three, four and six months in our centres in Peru for children and young people with special needs, or who have been abused and abandoned. We also do vital community outreach with Peruvian families.
    • Location: Peru
    • Tel: 01273 721 092
    • Fax: 01273 732 875
    • Email: andrew@kiyasurvivors.org
    • Address: 41-43 Portland Road, Hove BN3 5DQ
    • Lancashire Education Business Partnership  
    • Are you 16-25 living/studying in Lancashire? The Lancashire vinvolved team can help you get involved in all kinds of volunteering activities such as coaching a youth football team, designing a website for a charity and conservation projects. You can even apply for £2,500 of funding to set up your own volunteering project.
    • Language Link Russia  
    • Gain international work experience volunteering in areas such as teaching assistant, student activities organiser & translator/proof-reader.
    • MondoChallenge  
    • Projects include teaching, childcare, orphanage work and some conservation work.
    • Location: 9 countries across Asia, Africa, South America and Eastern Europe
    • Tel: +44 (0)1635 45556  
    • Email: info@mondochallenge.co.uk
    • Peace Brigades International  
    • We send trained volunteers to provide protective accompaniment to threatened human rights defenders. Committed volunteers with post-university experience and a mature outlook are always needed for our five projects.
    • Location: Colombia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Mexico and Nepal. Voluntary posts in the London office also available.
    • Tel: 020 7281 5370
    • Email: admin@peacebrigades.org.uk
    • Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
    • UK charity working to secure a healthy environment for birds and wildlife. Volunteers are an integral part of the RSPB and without their active participation and support, the RSPB’s work would be greatly diminished.
    • Location: UK

  • Logo: SL Volunteers

    • SL Volunteers
    • Our volunteers undertake community work at children’s homes, youth centres and special needs centres.
    • Studentforce for Sustainability
    • Various opportunities.
    • Location: East Midlands
    • Tel: 01780 722 072
    • VESL  
    • Help rural schools in Thailand, Sri Lanka and India by running summer clubs, teaching English or working as a language assistant.
    • WorldWide Volunteering (WWV)  
    • Free online database of 1.5 million short and long-term voluntary opportunities from 1,900 organisations for people from 16 upwards. It also has advice on bursaries and volunteering accreditation.
 
 
 
 

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