Volunteer work

fastwunz said:
'Travelling' tends to be the past time of toffs. Buggering off to Thailand etc on Daddies credit card to get 'experience' - more like avoid work etc lol.
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Lol, that's one thing, I agree, but those who actually get themselves out there unless they have "Daddies credit card" or a lot of money saved from working at home.

In my example, in a couple of weeks I'm going to Canada for 6 months, staying with my girlfriend. And the only way I can work, even if it's volunteer work, is if I marry her and become a permanent resident. Lame.

I'm not even looking for anything extravagant. Any work will do. I'd love the experience and be able to contribute properly while I'm there instead of just sit around all day. -_-
 
Maybe think about teaching English abroad?

It may not be ideal but usually with a degree you can earn a living in places such as S.Korea/Japan etc, a TEFL qualification helps but sometimes you don't need it.

I find that most voluntary stuff abroad is only accessible to rich kids who can afford go away for months without income. Teaching English would give you something to live on as well as looking good on the CV.
 
beh said:
Honestly, what do you think motivates these companies?

What's your motivation? Why do you want to be abroad?
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Well, companies, money of course (although some ight have some conveluted idea about helping people/the environment. However charities should be different, especially small ones, they should be about helping the environment/people first and foremost. Bringing volunteers over from other countries, even if paying for food and accomodation (not flights) should still work out cheaper than paying locals to do the same job (if they have the skills).

My motivation is to get of my (getting fatter) **** and actually do something, and spend my time actually making something better, helping an endangered animal/environment survive another generation. Yes some parts of me wants to go somewhere "exotic" and see new things/cultures but that's normal. If you don't like your job you're unlikely to put effort in.

Dark_Angel said:
I think it was basic stuff, like teaching basic English and so on. But I don't really remember the details to well. I could get you the details if you would like, I would need to get hold of my friend for the website.
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Not really my cup of tea unfortunately, however if there were some environmental things the charity/website did then I would be interested.:) If you get the chance i'd be interested in the site.:)

khushy said:
Until recently we have been working with an orphange in India where our brief was to help find volunteers, raise funds etc etc

Whilst doing this we offered volunteer placements, for the right people, with NO FEES PAYABLE - ever!

We even paid for accomodation and food.

Its true that if you go through the normal channels (volunteer agencies) you will have to pay £000's for the privilege - but screw your head on properly - do some reserach - make some calls - approach a likely venue directly and you will be pleasantly surprised at what they can offer if you are "the right person"!

Good Luck - its a great thing to do and could well change the course of your life!

khushy
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Thanks.:) It's finding the actual charities (not the businesses) that's the difficult bit, a lot of the time it will be through word of mouth or small adverts on free websites, which is where i'm coming up short. I only seem to be finding the companies that sell "eco-holidays".

fastwunz said:
good place to start : http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/home Britsih Trust of Conservation Volunteers i think
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Thanks, i'll have a look into that. :)
 
Liefrich said:
Maybe think about teaching English abroad?

It may not be ideal but usually with a degree you can earn a living in places such as S.Korea/Japan etc, a TEFL qualification helps but sometimes you don't need it.

I find that most voluntary stuff abroad is only accessible to rich kids who can afford go away for months without income. Teaching English would give you something to live on as well as looking good on the CV.
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Not really my cup of tea unfortunately. I'm rubbish at that sort of thing.:p

mattheman said:
Volunteer not to Volunteer.
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A paid job would be wonderful, however I can't find any at the moment (career that is not tesco etc.), so this is the next best thing, otherwise it'll have to be Tesco... gulp:(
 
Amp34 said:
Bringing volunteers over from other countries, even if paying for food and accomodation (not flights) should still work out cheaper than paying locals to do the same job (if they have the skills)
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And the funding for this comes from where?
My motivation is to get of my (getting fatter) **** and actually do something, and spend my time actually making something better, helping an endangered animal/environment survive another generation.
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Obviously for any genuine charity you're going to have to explain your motivations in some detail.
It's finding the actual charities (not the businesses) that's the difficult bit
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Bingo! Unfortunately, as the type of thing you're after is rather on the exotic side, I think you're going to struggle to find anything that doesn't involve handing over money.
Yes some parts of me wants to go somewhere "exotic" and see new things/cultures but that's normal.
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If you want to travel, save a bit of money, get an interrail/rtw ticket, and go for it!
 
Amp34 said:
Not really my cup of tea unfortunately. I'm rubbish at that sort of thing.:p



A paid job would be wonderful, however I can't find any at the moment (career that is not tesco etc.), so this is the next best thing, otherwise it'll have to be Tesco... gulp:(
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if you dont have a job then sign on and find some local volunteer job, while you look for a job you want.
 
beh said:
And the funding for this comes from where?
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Donations of money. I see what you are getting at, and I agree that money should be an issue for most charities, however there is a difference it seems between proper charity voluntary initiatives and what most people do, which as I mentioned appears to essentially be a glorified holiday.

beh said:
Obviously for any genuine charity you're going to have to explain your motivations in some detail.
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Obviously, but i'm not going to write half a page on what my motivation is for a forum post asking for help finding voluntary work.

beh said:
Bingo! Unfortunately, as the type of thing you're after is rather on the exotic side, I think you're going to struggle to find anything that doesn't involve handing over money.
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I wouldn't say it's exotic, there seem plenty of opportunities to do it, it's just finding them between the ones you have to pay.

beh said:
If you want to travel, save a bit of money, get an interrail/rtw ticket, and go for it!
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Done europe, been there, and it's not fully about travelling, it's about doing something interesting and helping out.:)
 
mattheman said:
if you dont have a job then sign on and find some local volunteer job, while you look for a job you want.
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I've been looking at local ones too, they are only ever once a month type jobs.

I never knew it would actually be this difficult to actually give my time away...:p
 
Amp34 said:
Donations of money. I see what you are getting at, and I agree that money should be an issue for most charities, however there is a difference it seems between proper charity voluntary initiatives and what most people do, which as I mentioned appears to essentially be a glorified holiday.
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Well, you either have to be funding it yourself or to have a very good reason for someone else to fund it. I can understand why you don't want to be involved with the former, but do you fit into the latter case?
Obviously, but i'm not going to write half a page on what my motivation is for a forum post asking for help finding voluntary work.
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Aye, fair enough. The idea of "helping an endangered animal/environment survive another generation", and wanting to abroad, people could be forgiven for getting the wrong idea.
I wouldn't say it's exotic, there seem plenty of opportunities to do it, it's just finding them between the ones you have to pay.
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Best of luck to you.
Done europe, been there, and it's not fully about travelling, it's about doing something interesting and helping out.:)
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Cool :)
 
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