Pod Volunteer Reviews

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

4.8 Rating 492 Reviews

97 %

of reviewers recommend Pod Volunteer

Company Reviews

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4.8

Based on 492 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 23rd January 2025

Emily W

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 20th January 2025

Meagan C

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 5th October 2024

Helen F

254

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Most Recent Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“• I really appreciate the flexibility that V by V offers to volunteers. Brendan and the local management team listen carefully to your feedback and try hard to accommodate your personal aspirations as a volunteer. If you want to do something different they will try very hard to accommodate your request. • V by V have a clearly stated vision and values by which the charity is run and I could clearly see tangible results of this during my time there e.g. hand washing regimes now undertaken by all school children. • I found it reassuring to be able to see that donations and other external funding that is put into projects really does make a difference to the village communities e.g. the communities use of schools, wells, crèches, clinics that have been built by V by V and funded by donations. The building work that has taken place and is continuing is very impressive and clearly serves many village communities in areas where they most need it. • The local management team e.g. Aikins and Emmanuel are very professional and make a significant impact on the day to day operations. They made Kathy and me feel at ease throughout our stay and were very accommodating and concerned to make our time there safe and enjoyable. • Brendan the Operations director is excellent and was very supportive of our work during our stay. It will be interesting to see how the organisation and future projects fares under new leadership following his departure. His presence and skills will be missed but hopefully a new person(s) will bring about new opportunities to extend the good work already done. • I found the Abenta base a great place to be situated. It’s a lovely village with great views. The community is very friendly and you meet some lovely Ghanaian people. Its central location makes it convenient for most of the volunteering activities and despite the feeling of remoteness, it’s only a couple of hours from Accra. • The facilities at Abenta are basic but comfortable and the procedures to ensure the welfare of volunteers have been carefully considered and are effective e.g. dish washing regime using Milton sterilizing tablets and hand washing with disinfectant. The result is that the base and its facilities are very clean and the risk of illnesses is minimized. • The mud hut was also a great experience for us as a couple. It was clean and comfortable and right in the centre of the village community so we really felt at the heart of the community - no need for a sauna though!”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Excellent support pre-placement, accurate information about what to expect both from the project and in Cambodia, and genuine interest about the experience on my return.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Absolutely amazing company! Helped me through each step right from the start booking my volunteering trip to Thailand. They answered any questions I had straight away and all the staff were really helpful! They sent me all the documents I needed and explained each step which was so helpful. I would definately use POD Volunteer again when booking volunteering journeys all over the world, 100% would recommend, especially to first time single travellers”

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 17th February 2018

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Posted 6 years ago

“Wow, what an experience. I start by saying I am aged 60. only relevant if you are feeling that ‘age thing’, which rarely I do but prior to joining I looked for reviews from older applicants but could not find any so here goes. Go to the gym, do strength exercises, climb up a few hills – generally get fit. I do carry a few extra pounds so don’t let that worry you. I travelled alone and lived in my shared hut opposite gibbon island. Yes, we used our mosquito nets and spray, we had no hot water but frankly at the end of a very tiring day nobody cared. We did have our own bathroom – it was all very basic except for the experience. Waking up to a gibbon chorus every day was unbelievable, (I stopped myself from wringing the cockerels neck). 6am there is a steady flow of zombie volunteers walking to the volunteer house checking to see where you would be spending your day. I feel an expert at making banana balls, cutting up fruit and could get a blue peter badge for what I can do with elephant poo. You are hands on with the elephants, you will walk and shower these majestic amazing giants but never without the permission of their mahout. I still have ringing in my ear “Bev get out of there, run” bad tempered ele but all under control (catch my breath) It is no doubt hard work, the word ‘special project’ still makes me groan as it could be scrubbing out an enclosure, treading elephant poo or frankly anything and in the heat of the day it is tough but if you are thinking of it, DO IT, the volunteers are young but I never felt too old. They are all inspiring as they want to look after the animals and our planet which is all our futures. You will carry around heavy buckets, harvest the banana trees, never be far from your gloves - all in the heat but if something becomes too much just ask to do something else, there is so much to experience, just give it all a go. I spent one day on Wildlife, another experience I will treasure. POD answered all my pre-visit questions, their advice was efficient, helpful and so encouraging”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Very friendly and helpful always there to answer any questions I had.. would definitely recommend POD to any of my friends wanting to volunteer”

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 29th December 2017

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Posted 7 years ago

“The orphanage I arranged to go through via pod was lovely. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. Unfortunately I was disappointed to find out that the majority of the money I paid went towards Pod organisation rather than to the orphanage itself, as other volunteers there who booked directly through the orphanage paid less than half of what I paid”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hi Rebecca, Thanks very much for your feedback and I’m delighted to hear that you had a good experience volunteering in Thailand. With the fee you pay, we do try to be as up front as possible on this and publish a full breakdown of fees on our website (https://www.podvolunteer.org/about-us/where-the-money-goes) so I’m sorry you were disappointed about this and we would be very happy to chat it through with you. We charge a fee to volunteers for all our placements in order to cover the overseas costs of volunteering and the costs of running our organisation in the UK. We keep the fees as low as we can but we have to ensure that we cover all the costs involved – the home asks for our support to find volunteers and recognises that we will have to charge a fee in addition to their local costs. Please do get in touch if you would like any further information. Best wishes, Lucy

Posted 7 years ago

“The booking and planning through out was easy and stress free the volunteer coordinator was friendly and answered any questions I had within no time at all”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Really cool experience; very well organized; good food, great staff in country, good mix of people in the group. Would do it again!”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Pod Volunteer help me to travel confident and secure”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Very professional and super friendly!! They are always so happy to help even with the most datfest of questions and trust me I asked some really silly questions as this was the first time of travelling alone without my husband. There is always a point of contact which is very reassuring and they also make sure you have everything in place from injections needed to the correct paperwork. I highly recommend them.”

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 5th November 2017

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Posted 7 years ago

“All was as promoted, we got to spend time with the elephants and help out with their care.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“They linked me up with an amazing charity and a brilliant charity. They were really helpful while I was planning the trip and were always available to answer questions.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Ellie, our primary contact, was spot on with providing timely, helpful information during the entire process. We are considering booking another POD holiday next year, due in part to her professionalism and responsiveness when questions have come up.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Lots of friendly helpful advice and very prompt response to emails and questions”

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Posted 7 years ago

“I had a great experience with the Kruger Conservation and Leopard Monitoring Project. The rangers provided great information. I would recommend being a Pod Volunteer and look forward to possibly volunteering again.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“I found Pod incredibly useful setting up my voluntary work with STEP's Teaching and Community Project in India. The project itself was a beautiful blend of cultural engagement with inpependent teaching work which was equally challenging and rewarding. I can't quite put into words the experience of working each day with the children, becoming their friend as well as their teacher. It was humbling and hilarious. I loved every moment.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“They regularly checked in with me through the whole process, making sure that I had done what I needed to do in terms of documents etc. They sent me plenty of information before the trip so I knew what to expect, and the volunteer experience itself was well organised and so incredible!”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Pod did a wonderful job with the details and descriptions of the projects. It was an incredible experience.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“The project was for a good cause with very passionate people. Pod volunteer is good organized!”

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Posted 7 years ago

“They were so helpful. I felt quite anxious leading up to my trip but they helped me through it and gave me the advice I needed. They also made me think positively about it and got me feeling excited about it again. I felt like they were with me each step of the way.”

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Posted 7 years ago

Pod Volunteer is rated 4.8 based on 492 reviews