2 Weeks Special Volunteer Abroad Programmes

Each two-week placement gives you around ten working days on a project, split across weekdays with weekends left free for travel. Depending on the country, you support local staff in childcare centres, schools or wildlife welfare projects such as elephant care. Volunteers assist rather than lead: local staff stay in charge of teaching, care plans and animal handling throughout. Typical placements include childcare and elephant volunteering.

Most placements accept volunteers from 16+, though South Africa's programme requires 18+ on some programmes. No previous experience or qualifications are needed for childcare, teaching or community projects, and Peru is easier with some Spanish. Everyone must pass a background check before departure, since most placements involve contact with children. The programmes suit students, gap-year travellers and professionals with two weeks of leave.

Fees start from £695, secured with a £179 deposit. That covers accommodation, meals, airport pickup and in-country support for the full two weeks. International flights, visas and travel insurance are booked separately. See how programme costs break down for a full explanation of where the fee goes.

Two-week placements currently run in India, Ghana, Kenya and Nepal, plus India, Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. Each destination has its own placement type, from childcare centres in Delhi to community projects in Cusco. Visit the destinations page to compare countries side by side before you pick a project.

The next available start date is 25 Oct 2026, and most projects run on a fixed schedule of set intake dates rather than rolling starts. Because dates and places are limited, it helps to book a few months ahead, especially for the busier India and Nepal placements. Check the start dates explorer for exact upcoming dates by country.

Two weeks is enough to support an ongoing, community-led project rather than start one from scratch. Local staff run the centre, school or conservation site year-round, and volunteers fit into that existing routine rather than working alone. Your two weeks add to what long-term staff and previous volunteers have already built. Programmes are designed with this continuity in mind rather than as short, standalone visits.

You get an orientation on arrival, a placement briefing from local staff, and 24/7 in-country support for the length of your stay. Coordinators handle daily logistics such as transport to the project and answer questions about the local area. This support is the same whether you are on a two-week programme or a longer placement, since our in-country teams run every project year-round.

Volunteers support local staff and never take sole charge of a classroom or group of children, in line with our child and vulnerable adult protection policy. On elephant and animal welfare placements, work is welfare-focused: no riding, bathing or posing for selfies with animals. These limits exist because two weeks is too short to build the trust or training that direct responsibility would require.

Yes. The programme structure keeps weekdays for project work and weekends free, so most volunteers use the two free weekends to travel locally, whether that's a Cape Town day trip or a Lake Nakuru safari from Nairobi. Weekend plans are your own to organize, separate from the placement schedule and cost.

A two-week programme simply runs twice as long as our one-week programmes, giving you more project days and two free weekends instead of one. Summer programmes use the same placements but run during the peak summer travel season for students on a break. All three sit within our short-term volunteering range.

Yes, a clean background check is required for every two-week placement, since almost all of them involve direct contact with children or vulnerable groups. You submit this before departure as part of booking, alongside a copy of your passport. This is a fixed requirement across every destination and cannot be waived for shorter placements.

You reserve your place with a £179 deposit, then our team sends a placement pack covering visas, packing and arrival details. Plans can change up to 45 days before departure under our flexible booking policy free of charge. Background checks and any project-specific documents, such as Spanish ability for Peru, should be sorted before your start date arrives.