Category Archives: Abroad

Gap Lincs volunteer guide: Raising money

The main idea of a volunteering project is that you help others, without receiving any sort of financial gain. When it come to going overseas for a volunteer experience, it can often be expensive with factors to include such as the accumulation of insurance fees, airlines and living costs.

There are several ways to make your trip more affordable (with some requiring more effort than others.) If you stay passionate about your trip and work hard any level of expenditure is achievable.

Raising money for your volunteer gap year:

Decide on a volunteer project

By choosing your volunteering project well in advance means that you can plan appropriately and be 100% financially ready when the times comes to go on your adventure.

If you have chosen your trip then you should know exactly how much you need to raise to make it happen, therefore you can set goals and plans to raise the required funds.

Work out how much time you have to raise the funds

Having a timescale and writing out a plan means that you can have week to week or month to month updates and goals aim for. By setting targets means that it can motivate you to get out there and achieve your goal..

Ask for direct donations

Asking your contacts for money might not sound that easy at first. However, a simple, direct request to people can, more often than not, be a great way to raising funds. Being precise and passionate about what you are fundraising for can lead to people being generous and backing your cause. Consider carefully who you ask, if you feel they might be offended or feel you’re abusing a position then err on the side of caution.

Business Donations:

If you have family friends who own a local business or work for one, you can get in contact and ask for donations. Volunteering is seen as a good deed, so businesses often are willing to back volunteering trips and have their names associated with helping others.

Create a website or blog

By creating of your own website or blog, you can raise awareness about your trip and get people involved in the experience. People who sponsor you can read your blogs and track your website when you are abroad and feel part of the experience. By doing this sponsors can see what their money is going towards.

Set up an online fundraising page

You can collect money in all sorts of ways, with the advancements in technology the most popular way is to donate online. Setting up a donation page you can give people details of what you will be doing and show them how much you need to raise. You can send your link around to all family and friends and give them an easy way to donate towards your trip.

Organise an event

Events are a surprisingly inexpensive way to get community spirit behind your project and to raise awareness for your cause.

We spoke to a few of our Gap Lincs experts to see what event ideas they tip to provide the biggest return:

A sponsored sporting event – you could run a marathon, do a cycling race or a hike up one of England’s Lake District mountains. People are more likely to donate if they see that you are working to earn their money for your cause. You can get friends, family and other people to sponsor your event e.g. £1 for every mile you run, swim, cycle, etc. which quickly adds up.

Organise a Pub Quiz – try to get prizes donated from family members, local businesses or the pub itself. It’s in the pubs’ interest to run it on the quieter nights due to the potential appeal of attracting more customers. You could charge an entry fee as well as hold a raffle.

Erin; Placement Manager, PoD Volunteering

“Many of our volunteers have fundraised in the past through a variety of activities, these include sponsored runs, bake sales, fancy dress whilst using collection tins.”

Selling unwanted items

Everybody has lots of unwanted clothes and toys lying around their houses, by collecting these items and taking them to a car boot sales or putting them for sale online is a easy way of making a tidy profit. These are things you never use so every pound you make is profit towards your trip.

Earn money in your local community

Offer your services as a dog walker, babysitter, gardener, car washer or all round handyman/lady to your friends and neighbors. Inform them that you are doing these services in order to be able to volunteer and they may even pay above rate. Pull on your skills and hobbies – you might even find an untapped business ability!

Conclusion

When it comes to raising money for these volunteering projects abroad money doesn’t raise itself, through careful planning, goal setting and hard work you will achieve your financial goal and be on your volunteering experience in no time.

Gap Lincs volunteer expert: David – Lourdes

Name: David Gridley

Age: 20 years old

Hometown: Basingstoke, Hampshire

Profession: Civil engineering student – University of Nottingham

Lourdes is a town in the South West of France that has become a major Catholic place of healing and pilgrimage. Disabled children often travel to Lourdes in the hope of getting healed as well and having an enjoyable time, these are the people David Gridley volunteered to help on his Gap Year.

Volunteering in Lourdes

How would describe your gap year experience?

My volunteering trip to Lourdes was one that I will never forget. I didn’t know what to expect but when I arrived the sheer number of volunteers and helpers amazed me. My journey was like nothing I had experienced before. Each day I would go off with a different family, taking them to various sites while singing and keeping the children happy. We would run art classes and mini Olympic games, encouraging the kids to forget about their disabilities for a week and simply focus on enjoying themselves. At the end of the week an enormous mass/festival was held with thousands of helpers and disabled children. The event was a celebration of the week and an incredible memory that I will never forget.

What would you say was the highlight of your trip?

There was one family group, known as SC711, which will stay with me forever. The group was small, only a handful of children, but one night we planned a party for them. We had set up various games and activities for them to enjoy and when the time came around they loved it. It made my trip to see them completely forget about what they face on a day-to-day and enjoy themselves so much.

Would you encourage others to go volunteering?

Definitely. A lot of people see volunteering as a way of making themselves feel better. Until you actually experience it, you may find it hard to see that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The first thing you realise is that the trip has nothing to do with you and all that matters is those whom you are there to help. Going abroad and volunteering as part of a year out gives you not only the opportunity to help others but allows you to travel and experience other’s lifestyles and the culture of other nationalities.

What advice would you give to others thinking about volunteering abroad as part of a gap year?

Parts of the trip were hard and most voluntary work can be. Early mornings and long days are common but in the end it’s all worth it. You are doing something for people who really need your help and that feeling is priceless. My advice would be, simply get involved as much as you can. Don’t hang around on the fringes, you are there to help and the best way for you and those you are helping to get the most out of the trip is if you are completely committed.

Gap Lincs volunteer expert: Ben – Tanzania

Name: Ben Murray

Age: 20 years old

Hometown: Oulton Broad, Suffolk

Profession: Politics student – University of Warwick

Gap Lincs volunteering expert Ben Murray took a month out to volunteer in the East African country of Tanzania. While the country’s economy continues to grow, various areas continue to struggle with extreme poverty and lack of basic supplies.

As a representative and expert advisor in volunteering at Gap Lincs, he spoke to us about his experience overseas in Tanzania.

Volunteering in Tanzania

How would you describe your experience?

“Tanzania presented me with the raw reality of the plight that too many live in. I was aware of the poverty in East Africa, but nothing really makes you aware like being in an incredibly impoverished community, living – albeit for a short time – the testing lives that these people do. We spent time volunteering at an Evangelical Church-run school in Arusha (one of the poorest regions in Africa).”

What was the highlight of your trip?

“The highlight was witnessing the pleasure and excitement on the faces of schoolchildren, who had nothing, when playing a game of duck-duck-goose, or head-shoulders-knees-and-toes. I found it incredibly difficult to manage the fact that I was teaching, on a one-to-one basis a child who, through no fault of her own – rather as a result of the lottery of life – had nothing, and in comparison, I had everything. Yet, in comparison, these children seemed remarkably cheerful. It caused me to question the real value of material.”

Did you go alone, if so would you advise this or do you think going in a group makes for a better experience?

“I travelled in a group of ten. At the age I was, a group is a good idea. Now, I would rather go in a smaller group, or individually. The benefits of being within a group is that you are constantly surrounded by friends which makes you feel safe and comfortable. Whilst on the other hand the advantages of going as an individual or a duo means that you get to become more personally involved and can be invited to family homes. This, I think, is something that you’re only realistically, going to experience, in smaller groups. Moreover, you can build long-lasting relationships with the people.”

What advice would you give to others thinking about volunteering abroad?

“Just do it! If you don’t, you will regret it. As many people as possible should volunteer on similar projects. The more people who witness the unjust disparity, the more who will question the way our world works. In the shorter term, you can make a real and lasting difference to the communities that you’re working with. Our group, for instance, spent time building a new Church, and I setup their computer system.”

What’s the best thing you learnt from your time as a volunteer abroad?

“It’s important to realise that not everything in life is about serving one’s own self-interest.”