Volunteering away from home

If you don't have time or simply aren't adventurous enough to volunteer abroad with the VSO you could still consider volunteering when you're away from home.

Suppose you're on a training course and stuck in a hotel every evening for a week. Sitting in the bar on your own every night can get a bit tiresome. Why not look for volunteering opportunities in that area a couple of weeks before you go away? Spending a couple of hours with a charity could make a huge difference to them and gives you something to while away the time. You never know - a local contact might be able to show you the sights or take you on a pub crawl!

Or perhaps you simply have time to kill between two meetings. Too far to go back to base? Spend an hour helping a charity. Much better than sitting in the car reading the paper and they'll probably give you a cup of tea and a biscuit while you're busy.

Alternatively if you're stuck in an airport departure lounge why not try a virtual opportunity? With wireless internet access, a mobile phone and a spare hour you could at least set a charity on the way to solving a small problem.

We do try to highlight opportunities which we consider to be "short tasks". We've estimated that the work isn't too complex and also that the charity are well prepared and likely to respond quickly when they hear from a volunteer. This sort of task could be ideal if you're not going to be in an area for long.

As ever please let us know if you can't get in touch with a charity or if you think our information is out of date.

Please let us know if you've volunteered while away from home or if you've carried out a virtual task from an unusual place.

Anne Donnelly, Project Definer