Pod Volunteer Reviews

Name: Pod Volunteer
Address: 5, Noverton Lane, Cheltenham, Prestbury
Rating: 4.77

4.8 Rating 488 Reviews

97 %

of reviewers recommend Pod Volunteer

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4.8

Based on 488 reviews

Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Telephone, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	4.8 out of 5

About Pod Volunteer:

Pod Volunteer is an award winning non-profit organisation arranging ethical, inspiring and supported volunteering opportunities around the world since 2001

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Email:

info@podvolunteer.org

Location:

5, Noverton Lane, Cheltenham
Prestbury
GL52 5BA

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Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 5th October 2024

Helen F

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 23rd September 2024

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Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 14th September 2024

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248

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

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“Very nice staff, had a great experience! Little expensive tho but worth it.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Thanks very much for your feedback, we are so glad to hear you had a great experience and found the local staff friendly! Best wishes, Iona

Posted 5 years ago

“Wonderful! The best two weeks of my life. Hard work with the most amazing privileges and all in a beautiful country full of lovely, kind people! This was Elephant Care in Thailand.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi Mairi, Thank you so much for your review, it was a joy to help organise your trip! I loved chatting with you when you got back too and hearing about your time with the elephants - it sounds like you had an incredible time and we hope you're able to volunteer again in the future! Keep in touch! Best wishes, Bee - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“Pod volunteer is great to help organise a trip to a volunteering project. They prep everything well before the trip so that you feel well informed whilst you are at the project.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Thank you so much for this lovely feedback. We are thrilled to hear you felt well prepared for your trip and hope you decide to volunteer with us again in the future! Lucy - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“Really helpful services which provided all the information I needed”

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 9th May 2019

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi Sam, Thanks so much for your feedback and amazing photos of your time at the Kruger Conservation project! We are so glad to hear that you found Pod's services helpful and you felt well prepared for your placement! Best wishes, Iona - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“It was very easy to work with Pod. They made the whole process seamless. I never had to reach out for information--communication was prompt and plentiful. Bee was an excellent coordinator and super patient with all of my questions about traveling to Africa for the first time. I would definitely recommend Pod if you are looking to volunteer abroad. You won't regret it.”

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 8th May 2019

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi Megan, Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a lovely review for us - it's a fantastic photo of you and the rest of the volunteer team too! I love supporting volunteers and it was a pleasure to help answer your questions and help you prepare for your trip! You're always welcome to volunteer with us again in future too! Best wishes, Bee - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“I recommend volunteering with this group. They are helpful. They communicate well, providing useful and necessary information on a timely basis. They are well organized and all support staff delivered as promised. The in-country organization is staffed by wonderful people. Everyone is helpful, friendly, knowledgable, eager to please, and hard working. It’s a valuable experience.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Thank you so much Pat - it's fantastic to hear that you would recommend us! It was a pleasure to organise your placement and I loved hearing about your ideas for the building team when you got back too! Best wishes, Bee - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“POD Volunteer is such an amazing organisation. If you are wanting to volunteer abroad, then this is a great choice. The prices are great, you get so much help with organising your trip and if you have any questions they are quick to help. I volunteered for the monkey rescue project in South Africa, it was such an amazing experience and I am so happy I went with POD Volunteer. It's helped me build confidence and learn new things that has helped with my education. I would definitely recommend and I hope to volunteer again through POD volunteer.”

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 7th May 2019

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi Daniella, I loved reading your review and hearing about your time at the project in South Africa - thank you so much for writing it and for sharing such a cute photo too! I know the local team really valued the time and energy you put into the project. It was a pleasure to help organise your trip and we look forward to helping you with your next adventure too! Keep in touch, Bee - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“Absolutely incredible experience and one we will treasure forever. PoD were superb from start to finish and guided us through the entire process, answering any questions very promptly. We would definitely like to repeat again in the future.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Thanks so much Luke! We loved helping to organise your family trip to volunteer at the Child Care project in India and so happy to you all have many happy memories to treasure. We look forward to helping you plan your next family adventure! Gemma - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“I finished my volunteering in Marine Conservation program 2 months ago. And I can still say it was such a great experience. I really recommend anyone to be a part of the program. When volunteering in Koh Tao I felt very valuable , I improved and learned every day and I interacted with a passionate and faithful team. Kirsty, Elle, Spencer, Rahul, and Pau are great people. Every day they do something important with passion and efficiency. I’m proud to help them to do something important. Among volunteers, most of them are much younger than me and mostly have a marine biology background. Those young guys are nice, implicated and particularly respectful of the procedures. I will definitely join a pod volunteer again for sure.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi Xavier, Thanks so much for your detailed feedback on your placement in Thailand! It was wonderful to see all of your amazing photos and updates from your time with the team on Koh Tao - we know that the local team appreciated all the hard work you put into your 6 week placement. Stay in touch! Iona - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“It would have been nice to know, that pod isn't the charity I'll be volunteering with. I only realised once I got to Ghana. There is also some wrong information about the packing list, donations etc. Apart from that bee was very helpful and always answered by questions super quickly.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Many thanks for taking the time to review your placement. We really appreciate all feedback we receive, as this allows us to review things both internally and with the local team going forward. We are really pleased to hear you valued the support provided by Bee your Pod Volunteer Specialist throughout the process, this is something we pride ourselves on, as volunteers prepare for their time overseas. We review our information with the charity team in Ghana to regularly check that our information we pass onto volunteers is correct. Sometimes however, updates from the team can slip through the net and we are sorry to hear some of our information is not fully up to date and we have reviewed the packing list and donations with the team in Ghana to ensure they correct. We work closely with the charity in Ghana and we are sorry to hear that you were not aware of the name before arriving into Ghana. We do provide volunteers with details of the charity and local team when helping you plan your placement, so thank you for letting us know that this wasn’t clear enough and we have changed this to ensure it is clearer for future volunteers. We are proud of the working partnership we have with the local charity in Ghana, as you will know from having seen their operation there is a continual need for volunteers to support the team in their ongoing charitable work. The charity rely on us to help them find suitable volunteers and provide pre-departure support to enable the charity to focus on their fantastic work on the ground. Thank you again for supporting the project in Ghana and we hope you volunteer again in the future!

Posted 5 years ago

“Pod volunteer is an incredible organization. The Team is always willing to give you valuable guidance and support. I really enjoyed working with them and I look forward to doing anouther project in the near future.”

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 4th April 2019

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi Mila! Thank you very much for sharing these great photos and feedback, they bring back lovely memories of my time in India. It was a pleasure to help in planning your gap year and look forward to helping plan your next adventure. Lucy – Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“I'm top lazy to write but loved it”

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Posted 5 years ago

Thanks Quentin, we are so glad to hear you loved your placement at the Marine Conservation project in Thailand! All the best, Iona - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“The communication back and forth about volunteer information was good. The program was great, except when i tried to extend my stay because it was hard to pay for an extension.”

Pod Volunteer 4 star review on 5th March 2019

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi Jake, Thanks very much for providing feedback for your placement at the Kruger Conservation project - it's fantastic to hear that you felt the communication with Pod and your time with the local team were both positive. It's great that you extended your stay in South Africa and we will review your payment extension issues. Best wishes, Iona - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“Bee was incredibly helpful and always responded to any queries that I had. She was warm and friendly via email and over the phone and I felt I could go to her with any concern. Without pod I would not have come into contact with such a wonderful charity (village by village) who do amazing, sustainable and positive work in rural African villages- so for the opportunity to meet and work with such wonderful people I am very grateful. With the recent uproar on the negatives of 'voluntourism' it was great to be put in contact with a charity that was based on ethical and sustainable values, purely putting power and means into the hands of the locals. However, a lot of the information they gave us was incorrect. For example, they said we needed to take our own bedding which we did not. This is only minor but when you are travelling you want to take as little as possible with limited space. Additionally, we were told there would be groups such as 'girls empowerment ' which was no where to be seen. Therefore I would suggest they communicate better with the charities they represent. Finally, Pod should make it clearer how much the experience would actually cost - vaccines alone cost me £552 and it was a massive, unexpected financial difficulty attempting to get money together. £400 given to pod also seems a little steep, unsure as to what this is supposed to cover. Pod should thus make the prediction of overall cost a lot clearer. Overall, I had a fantastic experience and the things I have learnt and the people I've met will stay with me forever.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi Lauren, Many thanks for taking the time to write a review for us and provide detailed feedback, we really value hearing about volunteers’ experiences and carefully review any feedback we receive. It’s fantastic to hear that you had a great time at the project in Ghana and that the experience will stay with you forever! As you mention, a big part of what we do is connect volunteers with projects – it’s not easy finding ethical projects where there is a genuine volunteer role and that’s something that many volunteers feedback to us was a key reason they chose us. We work closely with the charity in Ghana and review our information with them regularly, so it’s disappointing to hear there was some information wasn’t right or may have been miscommunicated. I hope I may be able to reassure you by clarifying these points. Whilst the team in Ghana do have sheets available if volunteers need them, they have asked us to include bedsheets on the kit list we provide to volunteers so that, wherever possible, volunteers bring their own. This is to reduce the cost of regularly replacing bed sheets (which can be a very frequent occurrence in a country as hot and dusty as Ghana!). In terms of the additional roles we mention in our information, we try to make it clear that these are dependent on the needs and resources of the project whilst you’re there. For example, although the Girls Empowerment group is usually held on alternate Sundays, this can be more ad hoc. I’m sorry you didn’t have a chance to participate in this. We will be reviewing this information closely to try and ensure that this is as clear as possible to any future volunteers. Thank you for letting us know that you would have liked more information on how much to budget for your trip as well. Within our Volunteering Guide, we provide budgeting advice so that volunteers can plan how much they need before booking on to join the project. However, we have found that providing estimates for costs such as vaccinations can be tricky as our volunteers come from all over the world, where health systems and vaccine costs vary greatly. We completely appreciate your point though as it’s difficult to budget if there is a cost like this that is higher than may have been anticipated. The placement fee that we charge has to cover both the local charity’s cost in Ghana and also our own costs. We run on a non-profit basis, so our placement fees are set at a level to purely cover our costs and not make any more than this. We charge the reality of the costs we face and review this on a quarterly basis. We keep our costs to a minimum but want to ensure we are able to operate as a highly professional organisation and meet or exceed the standards that are required of us as a leading UK based volunteering organisation. If you would like to see more detail on our costs and where your fee goes, you can find a full cost breakdown on this page of our website: https://www.podvolunteer.org/about-us/where-the-money-goes. Thank you again for supporting the project in Ghana and we hope you volunteer again in the future! Best wishes, Bee

Posted 5 years ago

“Pod Volunteer is an easy, quick and thorough system of getting volunteer work abroad.”

Pod Volunteer 4 star review on 18th February 2019

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi David, Thank you for your feedback and sharing this lovely photo of you volunteering in Udaipur! I really enjoyed helping you prepare for your trip and hope you volunteer with us again in the future. Lucy – Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“I really want to thank Pod Volunteer for everything. They probably gave me the best experience of my life. I will never forget them.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi Mattia, Thank you so much for your feedback, it was a pleasure to arrange your placement and I am so pleased to hear you had an amazing experience volunteering in India! Lucy – Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“I travelled to Arequipa in Peru to work in a small charity school arranged by Pod. The entire experience was incredible and not least because I was so well looked after by Pod. They worked with local organisers who were brilliant at settling me in and showing me around before introducing me to the school. The school were very flexible about the hours I worked, the school staff were so friendly and interested in why I was doing the voluntary work and the kids were gorgeous, fun and mischievous. I had the most amazing time in Arequipa - I could not recommend it more. The town is stunningly beautiful with so much fascinating history. I went hiking in the incredible Colca Canyon and made great friends. Even the food was good! I 100% recommend Pod for finding such a great experience in such a great location and for taking so much care to ensure I had a good time. I will definitely use them again next time I go on a volunteer holiday.”

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 27th November 2018

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi Catherine, Thanks so much for your lovely feedback about your time in Peru - you are making us want to visit Arequipa again! It's fantastic that you felt so well-supported by Pod and the local team and we look forward to helping you arrange another volunteer placement in the future. Best wishes, Iona - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“I am so happy with my entire Pod Volunteer experience. Pod helped me organize my Belize Conservation trip and their support was invaluable! I had never traveled overseas and my entire experience was seamless thanks to everyone in the office. I was so impressed with how quickly and thoughtfully they answered my (many, many!) questions. Everyone was so kind and appear to genuinely love what they do. Knowing that every opportunity is thoroughly vetted for safety gave me peace of mind as I navigated a new country. I also appreciated their referrals and recommendations for flights and packing. I am already in the process of planning my next project using Pod and I cannot wait! I highly recommend using them to help you plan your next volunteer trip.”

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Posted 5 years ago

It's so lovely to hear all about your time with the Conservation team in Belize Elizabeth. I loved helping you plan for your trip and so happy that you chose to volunteer with us as your first travel experience abroad. We look forward to helping you prepare for your next trip! Best wishes, Gemma - Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“I look back fondly on my experience teaching in Udaipur. Ravi, Gurav, along with Neha are not only great hosts but they are passionate about work in their community and the experience has been so rewarding. The atmosphere they have created is friendly and fun filled and their support and knowledge throughout your stay lets you experience day to day life in India, not just as a tourist. I would recommend this to others if you want to work alongside people who are passionate about changing lives for the better.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Thank you for posting about your experience volunteering in India. The local team are truly committed to their work with local communities in Udaipur and I am pleased to read your experience was so rewarding. Keep in touch and we look forward to planning your next trip! Lucy – Pod Volunteer Specialist

Posted 5 years ago

“The support from staff was good and Iona was very helpful and professional throughout the entire process (which in my case was quite convoluted). The Dinokeng game reserve (South Africa) project was excellent (although the volunteer house was in poor condition and not up to standard when we arrived). The animal sightings were amazing and I learned so much. Our guide (Ingrid) was brilliant and I felt our work was very necessary and worthwhile. I would highly recommend this project to anyone, with the general caveat mentioned below*. The marine conservation project in Sodwana Bay was good in terms of the dive training (can't praise our dive instructor enough) and the marine ecology lectures were great. The Bay is a great place to learn to dive. However, some of the information in Pod's guide regarding the uses of data collected on this project is simply incorrect (something I only found out on arrival at the project). This project offers great dive training and marine ecology education and is part of PADI's Project Aware. However, the data collected is not actually used for anything and therefore does not contribute to the conservation of the reef system, nor to global databases, as claimed. Had I know this in advance I would have chosen a different project somewhere else in the world since I wanted to contribute to meaningful conservation work. This is a real shame and the only reason I am not able to give a Pod an 'Excellent' rating. I also think the fees Pod charges are too high and I would have preferred more of the money to have gone to the projects themselves. *Note that if, like me, you are over 30 you will very likely be the only volunteer in that age range. These projects attract almost exclusively school leavers, gap year students or early 20s. A lot of them seem to regard this as 'summer camp' or something to fill the time in their year off if they haven't got any better ideas. They don't know how to cook or clean, don't pull their weight and can be quite immature and often don't seem to appreciate how lucky they are to be here. So living and working with them can be very frustrating (in fact this was the only truly challenging aspect of volunteering for me). Also, they are almost exclusively German so if you don't speak German you will spend a lot of time listening to people talk in a language you can't understand, which can be quite isolating. If you can cope with all this, then do it as it's an amazing experience and, overall, I am glad I did it. Just make sure your reserves of patience are well stocked up before you come.”

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Posted 6 years ago

Hi Katherine, Many thanks for your detailed feedback of your time in South Africa, I am so glad to hear that your time at Dinokeng was so rewarding and that you found Ingrid to be informative and passionate with her role as volunteer coordinator. It’s also fantastic that you spotted so much wildlife during your 1 month placement! I am sorry that you felt the marine conservation project wasn’t contributing to meaningful conservation work as this is one of the primary reasons we work with this project. As we have discussed via email, your feedback was very helpful for us to review with the local team and ensure that volunteers are briefed correctly about the data they are collecting and why they are integral to the local team. It is disappointing that there was a lack of communication between management and the team on the ground but I hope you now feel more reassured that your 1 month in Sodwana was not in vain! Volunteers provide integral data to a variety of avenues. For instance, they provide data for the Oceanic Research Institute which, in turn, contributes to potato bass individual population dynamics survey. This survey is used to compile highly important information on the species. The data collected by volunteers is also used by South African Fisheries and Environmental Affairs to understand the impact of over-fishing, reef impact and human activities on this endangered species. Unfortunately, the number of potato bass is very low and Sodwana Bay is one of the last refuges where their habitat is protected. The data volunteers collect also contributes to a worldwide Citizen Science database. The local team and volunteers are actively involved with inaturalist.org which is a database that serves to identify and compile distribution of species internationally. iNaturalist works in conjunction with the South African National Bio-diversity Institute. They are directly involved with the SeaKeys initiative, Sea Coral Atlas , Seaweed Atlas , Sea-slug Atlas, Sea-Fish Atlas as well as Manta Spotter. This involvement is important as they present an all-year presence which is highly valuable to marine scientists. I’m sorry to hear that some of the younger volunteers there didn’t engage and contribute in the same way and that there was a tendency for them to fall into speaking German. I can appreciate how this could affect the atmosphere of the camp. The ages and backgrounds of volunteers does vary significantly through the year so it’s quite hard to predict what the typical group will be. Finally regarding Pod volunteer fees, the placement fee that we charge has to therefore cover both the local placement cost and also our own costs. We run on a non-profit basis, so our placement fees are set at a level to purely cover our costs and not make any more than this. We charge the reality of the costs we face and review this on a quarterly basis. We keep our costs to a minimum but want to ensure we are able to operate as a highly professional organisation and meet or exceed the standards that are required of us as a leading UK based volunteering organisation. Overall, I am very glad to read that you feel your experiences in South Africa were worthwhile. We have taken all of your feedback on board and I wanted to say thank you again for providing such an in-depth review of your time in South Africa. Best wishes, Iona

Posted 5 years ago

Pod Volunteer is rated 4.8 based on 488 reviews