Volunteering abroad is exciting, no matter how old you are. It is a chance to experience new cultures, visit new places, meet new people and develop new skills.
It is, of course, not exclusive to those classic gap year students and young travellers.
In fact, many volunteer projects welcome mature and retired people for their wealth of skills and knowledge accumulated over a lifetime of invaluable experiences. You could have medical qualifications, professional experience with families or conservation work. In some cases, it might simply be the logic skills and problem-solving skills that many communities seek in older people. In return, volunteer projects can offer you a multitude of freedoms, opportunities and friendships that you might not have access to at home.
It is important to be mindful of your own health and comfort levels and we strive to make sure our projects are adaptable to take different needs into account. Some of the following projects we have picked out as offering good inclusivity for mature volunteers:
Our Maldives Island Volunteer Project and Elephant Volunteer project in Thailand are slower paced, along with our Cloud Forest Project in Ecuador which includes research activities, sustainable living and food production, allowing you to get involved with environmental conservation without having to do any hard, physical work. And in Sri Lanka we have designed a mature volunteer itinerary for volunteers 50 years and over, who want to join others of similar ages on a specific one week programme. You can download the detailed itinerary here – Sri Lanka Mature Volunteers
Furthermore, if more luxurious accommodation is required then you might consider our Elephant Volunteer Project in Laos or Turtle Project in Kenya.
Below, you can find our current programmes that are most suited to older people planning a volunteer project abroad. For any questions on volunteering abroad as an older person or if you are just looking for some guidance, please email us! You can also click here to read a recent blog we have written about volunteering abroad options for older people.
