Our pricing explained

Sometimes the way we cost our programmes makes us look like a low cost airline. We would never describe our projects as ‘no frills’, in fact our projects have many ‘frills’ that other organisations don’t provide such as language courses and culture courses, which are included at no extra cost.

Put simply, it’s cheaper to be the first to join a project, or join us ‘off peak’, because it costs us less. As more people join us, the projects cost more to run. Therefore, we have introduced the policy to reward people for joining us early or in our quiet times.

Even if you’re not lucky enough to be the first to join our projects, we believe we cost significantly less than similar organisations without compromising your support or your experience.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us to chat about this further. We look forward to seeing you on one of our projects soon!

Why pay to volunteer / where does the money go?

When looking at programmes like this, many people question why you have to pay to volunteer. Put simply, because they can’t afford to pay you. The money you pay us pays for your food and accommodation, the support you receive overseas from our paid overseas staff and the support you receive from the UK. Part of that money pays for marketing and advertising the programmes otherwise how would you get to hear about us. Where possible we try to keep these costs to a minimum, which is why we only produce a small brochure and have most of the information online.

Additionally, many of our programmes are not traditional volunteer projects, some are aimed at giving you work experience, for example our medical and journalism projects. These projects often include time spent on a course learning skills you will need before you start your placement. In most cases we also pay your hosts to organise a programme for you, which we think is only reasonable given the time they will invest in you. This is why some of these projects cost more.

Many have asked us if it would not be more effective to donate the money to these projects overseas. The answer to that is of course yes, but what do you get out of this other than knowing that you have contributed to a worthy cause? Joining projects like this are as much about what you gain out of the experience.

Some have asked us would it not be cheaper to organise a project like this themselves? Again the answer is yes. However, our staff have been organising projects like this for the last 8 years and so can guarantee there will be a structured and well organised placement for you when you actually get overseas. Perhaps most importantly we have staff based in all our locations so that if anything goes wrong, either with your placement or at any other time, it’s reassuring to know we have someone that you can turn to.

Please contact us to discuss any of this further. If you are interested in the exact breakdown of where the money goes on your project, please feel free to get in touch.