Posted 26 Jan 2009

Increasing numbers of Brits are embarking upon volunteering abroad programmes, it has been claimed.

Various volunteering abroad organisations, have claimed that people are choosing to lend their assistance to projects overseas as firms continue to make redundancies in the economic downturn, reported the Telegraph.

According to Peter Slowe, founder of Projects Abroad, the firm has seen an increase of 55 per cent in people applying to volunteer abroad.

"We currently have people from all sorts of professions: welders, care workers, staff from local authority finance departments and construction workers," he stated.

Another firm, VSO, has experienced a 75 per cent rise in interest from British volunteers.

Gapyear.com founder Tom Griffiths said: "We have seen 28-year-old solicitors who have been made redundant opt to go travelling for a year in the hope that when they return the job market will have picked up."

Those looking for the chance to volunteer abroad could take advantage of the programmes on offer from volunteering abroad specialist i-to-i. The company has introduced new projects of late, including a tour to the Galapagos Islands, working with lion cubs in Africa or hanging out with orangutans in Borneo.

Category: Moving Abroad