InterVol provides ethical volunteering opportunities for student volunteers in the United Kingdom through long-term partnerships with community-based organisations both locally and overseas.
There are a few things that make us different to the majority of other organisations offering volunteering opportunities for students:
1. Our student-led groups at UK universities work directly with partner charities to work out what activities require both the time investment of volunteers and financial investment to create positive change for people and communities. We focus on programmes that build the capacity of our partners, improve education, improve health, support humanitarian efforts, and conserve the environment.
2. We train our volunteers and select volunteers based on their skills and experience to allow them to thrive on their projects and be valuable assets to our partner organisations. We also establish community links within our university communities and cities so that volunteers gain experience, develop their skills, and benefit their communities before they have the opportunity to be placed abroad. This means that volunteers are prepared and appropriately skilled to work on their projects, and can make the most of the learning experience. We do not provide volunteers work as skilled labourers; our volunteers assist and support partner charity staff.
3. Our trustees and committees annually evaluate projects based on feedback from both partners and volunteers annually and only run projects if there is a clear need for volunteers and a specific project goal.
4. We are a registered charity in England and Wales and are run entirely by volunteers. This means that every penny raised by our volunteers goes to our partner charities. Volunteers being placed overseas cover their own travel, accommodation and insurance costs so all overseas donations are earmarked for our partners.
5. We partner with organisations on a long-term basis, allowing long-term planning and sustainable development. Our longest overseas partnerships have now been running for over 15 years while our ongoing support to former partners in Ecuador (Santa Lucia Reserve, 6 years) and South Africa (Horizon Farm Trust, 8 years) allowed them to strengthen their organisations, invest in infrastructure, and become more self-sufficient.
Photo: An InterVol Nottingham water tank in place in Eastern Uganda, allowing clean water to be collected in the community. This project was run by the local charity Little Big Africa.
InterVol 