FAQs and Help

For most projects, we require volunteers to be over 18 years old. However, we have a selection that are suitable for under 18s, which you can find here.  Unless specified, we can accept volunteers up to 75 years old.  Please get in touch if you want some advice on a specific project.

For all our projects, all training is provided on arrival – so for most of our projects you do not need any previous experience or qualifications in order to be accepted on the programme.  However, for some specific biology internship positions or medical programmes, where qualifications and/or prior experience are required, it will be specified.  In addition, if an intermediate level of Spanish or Portuguese is needed for our programmes in Latin America or Spain, it will be specified too.

Yes – we have a wide range of volunteer projects that are suitable for families with children.  You can see the full list here – and we are also listed under Family Traveller showing the Top 10 Family Volunteer trips here

Yes, volunteers pay for their own transportation such as airline tickets. Most organisations provide you with ground transportation to and from the work stations and/or airport pickup and drop off, unless the project is located far from the airport, in which case you may need to travel to the meeting point, and this will be at your own cost.  This will be specified on the project listing page.

Upon receipt of your submitted application form for one of our WorkingAbroad Projects, we will need to assess your application and liaise with our Project Managers in the field. This procedure can take anything from a one or two days up to a maximum of two weeks.  If you are doing a last minute application, please state this in your motivation letter or by email, and we will endeavour to get back to you within 24 hours.

Your application payment is paid as a commitment on your behalf that you want to secure your place on your project of choice. However, we do not debit your card until we can confirm that you have been accepted on the programme – so at that point, then your application payment is held in suspension. If after this point once you have been confirmed on the programme, you decide to cancel your participation on the project for whatever reason, then your application payment is not refundable. However, if we are unable to offer you a position on the project, your application payment will be voided (card is not debited). For other questions on payments, please refer to the Terms and Conditions sections under each Project application.

In most cases, we accept couples for all of our projects. Of course, this must be decided on a case by case basis, but as a general rule, we are open to joint applications. Please bear in mind that if you are applying as a couple to join the same project, that you would need to submit 2 separate applications and pay 2 separate application payments. Please also mention each other’s names in your motivation letters when you apply, so that we know to treat your applications together.

All volunteers on our programmes must have appropriate medical insurance which covers them throughout the period they are volunteering. We recommend several Travel/Medical insurance companies for our volunteers – please click here to find out more.