Volunteering abroad used to be the preserve of skilled medical and teaching professionals who would commit months or even years to working in overseas communities.

But like many other aspects of modern life, the experience has speeded up and become much more accessible, emerging as a booming ‘voluntourism’ industry. However, this doesn’t mean that volunteer work has become any less meaningful.

While critics of ‘voluntourism’ point to the transient nature of volunteers and the potential risk of them ousting locals from jobs, those who select their volunteer organisation carefully will find that they can make a positive and sustainable impact.

Indeed, while skilled volunteers are always valuable, well managed projects are more than capable of making good use of everyday skills, and fitting individual volunteers into long-term development plans.

Peter Lynch, author of Wildlife and Conservation Volunteering: The Complete Guide gives his advice on choosing the correct organisation: “The best way to assess whether an organisation is concerned with the volunteer issue or more interested in the money is to ask for evidence of tangible achievements from previous volunteer activity… A genuinely philanthropic organisation will be able to swamp you with detail.”

At Inspire we identify and manage our projects in a sustainable and ethical way and match volunteers to specific projects to maximise their impact. Find out more about us and our volunteer work.