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Short-Term Group Projects
How long: Mostly two weeks
When: Summer July-October; Winter January-April
Destinations: Across Wales
Activities: Social, Environmental, Youth Work, Arts/Cultural
Who can apply: Anyone 18+
Cost: £50
UNA Exchange runs a programme of around 35 International Volunteer Projects (IVPs) in Wales each year. This programme brings around 300 volunteers from all around the world to a wide range of communities across Wales to support exciting local community activities – running summer playschemes in the Rhondda Valley, building a roundhouse on the Llyn Peninsula, helping with a community circus in Swansea, creating a community garden in Carmarthenshire. Through our partnerships with community groups across Wales we co-ordinate a dynamic programme in the winter and summer months.
Each IVP typically has between 8-12 volunteers from different countries who live together for two weeks (we sometimes have shorter and longer projects), sharing everything from the cooking and washing up to planning free time and meeting local people. The local/host community organises and manages the work and usually gets involved with the social activities as well.
Each IVP in Wales has a group leader who is always a volunteer and usually has experience of volunteering abroad. We run a Leader’s Training programme each year so the leader uses a range of skills and ideas to run the project. It is their job to support the group to manage itself, to be the main link with the host community, to manage the food budget and to try to deal with any problems that might arise.
UNA Exchange encourages and supports the host communities and IVPs to make contacts with local people and to raise awareness of global issues . There are many ways in which connections and relationships can be made which enable the international volunteers to engage with local people and for real cultural exchange to take place. That’s what it’s all about!
Our summer volunteering programme for 2009 is now available. If you are interested in joining one of our summer programme projects please fill in a Wales Programme application form.
We are also looking for MTVs (medium term volunteers) to volunteer with us for four months. For more information on the programme and an application form please click here
Please note, if you are not resident in the UK you cannot apply directly for a project in Wales; you need to come through one of our international partner organisations. To find a partner organisation in your country click here .