How much does it cost and will I be paid?

All our placements are tailor made to suit your requirements. Costs will vary from project to project according to the level of accommodation you require and your preferred length of placement. As a guideline, our charges for a 4-week placement in basic accommodation will start from £1090. Full details will be worked out with you when arranging your placement.

The prices do not include any flights, insurance, transport to and from the airport in the UK, transport from the city of arrival to your placement, transport from your placement to the airport at the end of your stay, some meals, any other travelling or activities that you decide to do, any inoculations, visas, medical or other expenses, personal expenses such as phone calls, language tuition, TEFL tuition.

BVB will ensure part of your charge is spent in Brazil for the direct benefit of our projects there.  Again, the amount will vary according to each client's placement duration but will never be less than £200.

The work is voluntary and you will not be paid. Many people ask why they should pay to volunteer. The reason for this is that arranging your placement and the work that you do involves real costs, both here in the UK and in the placement in which you are working, to ensure that you have:

- a safe environment

- 24 hour emergency contacts

- matching and preparation process between projects and volunteers in the UK

- personal pre-departure briefing

- transfer from the airport to your accommodation for the orientation in country

- placement evaluation and monitoring

- accommodation

- food to eat

- a brief orientation course to introduce you to the country when you arrive

- a contribution to the project where you will be working

- tools or equipment needed to complete your role

All of this costs money.

Many volunteer recruitment organisations do not make any contribution to their placements but we believe that it is morally wrong to expect economically deprived communities to subsidise volunteers from rich nations in any way.

Neither Bowles Volunteering nor the projects themselves are funded through government or large NGOs. Without the volunteers being self-funding, many of the projects themselves would not exist. Bowles Volunteering is committed to treating all its partners, staff and customers ethically, fairly and to operating in a transparent manner.