Title – Try to be a help not a hindrance
Source – Metro
Date – 15th September 2009
There are always two key issues which stand out when choosing volunteering companies which promote gap year travel and volunteering projects.
The first is the value of the project for the host community, is it designed to meet their requirements or yours?
The second is are you provided with any real additional protection in the country you will be visiting or is more of your fee spent on fancy marketing than systems designed to assist you when you most need it?
We have often said that you need to choose carefully, there are many excellent companies out there providing excellent services and ethical and responsible volunteering projects, there are also a lot of cowboys… What frustrates me most and tends to ring my alarm bells are companies which portray themselves as charities rather than commercial companies (not to be confused with those genuine charities who tend on the whole to be more focussed on the work they undertake).
Even the big companies often have very limited information or inductions for volunteers. Choosing to go with a company rather than solo is no substitute for doing your own extensive research into your destination and learning ways to reduce the risks you may face in the country you are visiting.
Tourism Concern have indicated that their research demonstrates that one in three companies are so profit driven they don’t even meet candidates before they travel and one in four fail to offer any kind of pre-departure induction at all; where exactly is all your money going and what exactly are you paying for?
At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety alongside sessions on Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.
For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.
Source – Metro
Date – 15th September 2009
There are always two key issues which stand out when choosing volunteering companies which promote gap year travel and volunteering projects.
The first is the value of the project for the host community, is it designed to meet their requirements or yours?
The second is are you provided with any real additional protection in the country you will be visiting or is more of your fee spent on fancy marketing than systems designed to assist you when you most need it?
We have often said that you need to choose carefully, there are many excellent companies out there providing excellent services and ethical and responsible volunteering projects, there are also a lot of cowboys… What frustrates me most and tends to ring my alarm bells are companies which portray themselves as charities rather than commercial companies (not to be confused with those genuine charities who tend on the whole to be more focussed on the work they undertake).
Even the big companies often have very limited information or inductions for volunteers. Choosing to go with a company rather than solo is no substitute for doing your own extensive research into your destination and learning ways to reduce the risks you may face in the country you are visiting.
Tourism Concern have indicated that their research demonstrates that one in three companies are so profit driven they don’t even meet candidates before they travel and one in four fail to offer any kind of pre-departure induction at all; where exactly is all your money going and what exactly are you paying for?
At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety alongside sessions on Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.
For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.
No comments:
Post a Comment