Project Trust has been organising long term voluntary placements in Africa, Asia and Latin America for young people since 1967, making us the most experienced educational charity specialising in overseas volunteering for school-leavers.
Project Trust are the original gap year charity and has been organising long term voluntary placements in Africa, Asia and Latin America for young people since 1967, making us the most experienced educational charity specialising in overseas volunteering for school-leavers.
From our home on the Hebridean Isle of Coll, we annually select around 300 young people from across the UK for 8 – 12 month overseas teaching, social care and outward bound projects. Working with partners overseas, these projects are carefully chosen to ensure the Volunteers’ skills can be put to good use in their host communities and do not take work away from local people.
Project Trust provides all Volunteers with training and support before, during and after their time overseas, to maximise both the educational value of their experience and the positive impact they have in their projects and host communities.
Volunteers return home with broadened horizons, increased maturity and an impressive range of transferable skills. Volunteers can now receive an accreditation of a Level 3 Foundation Year in Global Volunteering and Citizenship.
Through Project Trust’s Global Citizenship programme, Volunteers are also encouraged to share their experiences and knowledge within their own communities across the UK.
My daughter decided to go abroad with Project Trust for her gap year. While she was abroad there was poor communication with staff and they were late paying her allowance consistently. She would message them and be ignored and would have to remind them that they were late in paying her allowance. An allowance, I would like to add, that she funded herself. The evacuation process due to the pandemic reflected this disorganisation and lack of communication. She did not feel like she was being taken care of whatsoever during her time abroad.
To travel abroad she had to make £5,500. She did this through working full-time in retail believing that in the end it would be worth it as she would have an amazing experience abroad. I also funded the trip and a small amount was donated. Logically you would expect Project Trust to refund the money as the trip was cut short from 8 months to just 3 months and they would have spent this money on her regardless. Money that she made and trusted them to spend on her - for accommodation, flights, insurance etc. However they refused to refund the money, stating that their handbook says money cannot be refunded except under specific circumstances. They did refund money that came from her own pocket though before she travelled when a grant came through. They made a distinction between money made from her own hard work and money donated or fundraised and created ambiguity about refunds.
It's a shame to see how volunteers can be taken advantage like this by a charity dedicated to the education of young people. If you are looking to travel abroad for your gap year I would advise you to steer clear of this organisation and find one that actually has you or your child's best interest at heart and actually cares about treating their volunteers fairly. They are unreliable, untrustworthy and have issues with transparency.
Project Trust is amazing in its support of young people wanting to travel and do meaningful work. I will never forget the amazing experiences I had, the training and support provided by Project Trust. If you want to travel before university, there is no comparison.
Overall I had an amazing year that I don't regret at all....we had a few issues with the project we got sent to at first so I would advise people going to make sure you really ask lots of questions about the different projects on selection before choosing one but there are always unforseable problems and it's one of the experiences that will help you gain skills for later life ...but when we had problems with our visa project trust were amazing they paid for us to move countries for the final part of our year and I had the most amazing time!
I met some brilliant people I got paired with people that will be life long friends....this doesn't happen to everyone so just be ready for that, you can make the year whatever you want it to be it doesn't matter who your partner is!
I volunteered for Project Trust in 2014/15 in the Dominican Republic teaching English to children aged 8 - 18. This experience was probably the steepest learning curve I have ever and will ever encounter... I had an absolute blast!
From applying online, mere hours after having heard a promotional talk at my sixth form college, selection, fundraising, training, the overseas placement and finally to debriefing (a whole two years later at this point) I knew at the the time and even more so upon reflection that it was the BEST decision I ever made.
The charity is so worthwhile, giving hundreds of teens incredible opportunities each year, and in turn, helping thousands of people worldwide in schools, colleges orphanages, hospitals, churches and community centres.
Having the guidance and support from Project Trust to complete the fundraising and volunteer overseas, knowing that you are making a difference, in countries where even the smallest act of kindness goes such a long way, not only helps the communities in which you are working, but also allows you to grow as a person and form vital opinions of the world, its economy and 'how the other half live'. It's an eye opener, a realisation and an awakening that I feel is so crucially important for today's society, wherever you come from or whatever your upbringing, and of course, for that of future generations.
Do something amazing... volunteer with Project Trust!
Had the best year of my life, just after college working for the outdoor adventure education charity Outward Bound in Malaysia. Made me the person I am today. Not just another gap year travel company Project Trust is committed to the development of young people and dedicated to supporting said individuals in terms of its volunteers and the local beneficiaries of its projects. If you want to contribute and make a difference whilst being immersed in a completely new culture Project trust maybe the gap year charity for you.
