You want to discover new people and new places - volunteer your time, skills and experience – and you want to do this responsibly. We are here to help you do that.
people and places is proud to be an international award-winner in responsible volunteering. Our goal is to match the right people to the right places.
Our responsible travel policy has been independently audited - everything we claim in our policy has been checked out by an independent auditor.
people and places was the first organisation to complete such an audit - swiftly followed by some of our local partners!
The accepted criteria for responsible travel cover three categories: social, economic and environmental - a triple bottom line which we are proud to meet.
Since 2005, people and places has been matching volunteers' skills and experience to projects' needs. We are guided by their shared need to gain real mutual benefits: a `win-win' volunteer experience that is built within our own core values of accountable, ethical, and responsible volunteering.
people and places has no political or religious affiliations and is not run for the benefit of shareholders. Any profits after operating expenses are covenanted to charity or used to further serve the needs of the projects and communities where we work.
We firmly believe that volunteers should be provided with quality volunteering opportunities and be well supported throughout their entire volunteer experience - before, during and after their placements. We firmly believe that volunteers and the communities they support must be fully informed throughout the process. We firmly believe that we should be working to keep children in families – we do not offer orphanage volunteer travel –
read more here.
Each and every project is identified by our local partners – not by us.
people and places carry out full needs assessments and due diligence before we start to recruit and match volunteers.
Our partners ensure that volunteering in their local projects is a `win-win' experience for communities and their environment, as well as for volunteers.
people and places is overseen by an advisory committee of professionals and experts, as well as former volunteers in the fields of education, business,practical skills health care and social work.
Read our child labour policy here
We have signed #HELPINGNOTHELPING pledge
In recognition of the harm caused by institutional care for children (such as so-called ‘orphanages’), and the emerging evidence of children being trafficked to and from such institutions, we commit to the following:
The Pledge
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Actively support causes that strengthen families and build local communities
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Ensure that we do not promote or engage in volunteering and/or visits to institutions for children
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If relevant, we commit to carefully plan and safely redirect existing support to institutions into alternatives that support families and communities
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Educate our key stakeholders, staff and board about this organisational stance, and the harms of so-called ‘orphanage tourism’ and institutional care
