Family volunteering
Our Volunteer travel family Holidays
Family volunteering with monkeys in South Africa
Hands-on family volunteering with monkeys in South Africa
Horse rehabilitation project in South Africa
Work hands on with horses on the South African coast
Family holiday with volunteering in India
A truly fun & rewarding experience for families of any size
Family volunteering with elephants in Sri Lanka
Family volunteering with elephants in Sri Lanka
Borneo family volunteering holiday
Encounter orangutans and meet local tribes in magical Borneo
Family volunteering with bears in Romania
Unique family volunteering holiday at a bear sanctuary
Family volunteering with turtles in Costa Rica
Family turtle conservation volunteering in Costa Rica
Elephant & wildlife conservation volunteering in Sri Lanka
Help wild elephants and wildlife in Sri Lanka
Family elephant refuge volunteering in Thailand
Family elephant refuge volunteering in Thailand
Family volunteering in Thailand
Family wildlife sanctuary volunteering in Thailand
Family conservation project in South Africa
Exciting family volunteering with the Big 5
Elephant conservation holiday for families, Namibia
Elephant conservation volunteering project for families
Family volunteering and adventure holiday, Nepal
Volunteer in beautiful Nepal, visit Chitwan jungle & Pokhara
Elephant conservation holiday, Cambodia
Volunteer with rescued Asian elephants
Family volunteering at a wildlife rescue centre, Costa Rica
Families assist in caring for rescued tropical animals
Family volunteering with elephants in Laos
Volunteer with your family to conserve elephants in Laos
Family volunteering in Sri Lanka
Volunteer with your family in tropical paradise of Sri Lanka
Family volunteering in Borneo
Family wildlife conservation volunteering project in Borneo
Primate rescue volunteer holiday in South Africa
Providing rescued primates with a better quality of life
Family volunteering in Namibia, desert elephants
Family trip to research and conserve desert elephants
Family volunteering in Peru
Experience sensational Peru with family volunteering
Family volunteering in Tanzania
Memorable family holiday which makes a difference
Choosing the right trip for your family
Be wary of assuming that an expensive trip must necessarily be high-quality. In fact, in some cases the opposite can be true. Operators should be willing to put you in touch with previous volunteers which is often a good way to really establish how much value a trip will offer, and whether it’s right for you. You can also learn about the type of volunteering projects that it’s best to avoid, such as orphanage tourism.
When to go
Of course you can also tie some volunteer work into a longer holiday and in many locations there will also be activities available during your downtime, from snorkelling to village visits – another key factor to keep in mind when considering a trip.
Is it for us?
There is no standard ‘type’ of family that suits a volunteering holiday, but there do tend to be personality types that veer towards them. If your family generally has a desire to be active on holidays rather than limit themselves to the beach and the pool, if you enjoy learning new skills, and engaging with different cultures, you may find this kind of trip very appealing. And of course given that many trips involve wildlife conservation, a passion for the natural world goes a long way, too.
You will need to put more time aside for planning than you probably would for a regular holiday. Although you will be dealing with an expert volunteering organisation that will handle all the logistics on your behalf where the project is concerned, the rest will be up to you. These are not ‘click once and book’ trips. You may need to research flights, transport to the volunteering site, insurance and any further travels or adventures within the country after your volunteering time. Operators may well be able to offer assistance or advice in all these areas, but not always.
Our top Volunteer travel family Holiday
Family volunteering with bears in Romania
Unique family volunteering holiday at a bear sanctuary
This trip can be tailor made throughout the year to suit your requirements
FAMILY VOLUNTEERING ADVICE
“If this is their two week holiday that they’re doing over the summer, it’s giving the kids much more of a cultural understanding, it’s giving them a lesson in how great it is to volunteer, and really making the most of their holiday time. They’re not just staying in an all inclusive holiday resort and lying on a beach. They’re actually doing something really worthwhile with those two weeks. And these are projects that we’ve picked particularly because there are things for the children to do and to contribute to as well.”
“Our horse rehabilitation project accepts families. It’s a lovely project as you can really get involved in the family environment that they have there. It’s run by two women originally from Gloucestershire, then they moved over there and set up the project about 20 years ago now. The volunteers get involved with helping out with the horses and helping with the rehabilitation of an individual horse if they’re there for over four weeks. But while they’re there, they get involved in the local community, in whatever the family’s doing, and just mucking in wherever they can. So it’s really nice for families to go along and help in all the aspects. We have different minimum ages for each project, and for that project there’s a minimum age of 12."