Vocational Impact

Why choose Vocational Impact?

Vocational Impact offers meaningful volunteer programmes that give you real-world industry experience while making a genuine difference in communities abroad. From psychology and mental health to law, criminology, medicine, and community development, you’ll gain hands-on skills, boost your CV, and grow professionally—all while working alongside local experts on impactful projects.

Every programme is ethical, immersive, and built around cultural exchange—so you’ll give back, grow your skills, and make your time abroad truly count. Plus, as a not-for-profit affiliated to the UK charity Arms Around the Child, your placement directly supports the incredible work of our foundations in Africa and India.

Website

vocationalimpact.org

Founded

2015

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Impact 🌎

Sustainability

Vocational Impact is committed to international development and working with key community stakeholders to improve the capacity and sustainability of all our project partners. We work in a circular economic way, meaning we invest directly back into the charities we work with.

All our projects are founded, managed and developed by locals. We work with partner organisations that are specialists in the areas they operate. Our partners are selected because of the important work they are doing, and they are run by impressive humanitarians and professionals in their fields. We are committed to providing essential funding to support our partner’s community programmes and development projects, as well as creating reliable and sustainable funding plans.

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Ethical Impact

VI invest straight back into the projects we send volunteers to; helping them grow, access skilled local staff, and provide crucial funds for projects like women’s empowerment, child protection, mental health, legal aid, education, healthcare and community development initiatives.

We are passionate about building sustainable and ethical volunteer programmes where our project partners receive educated and eager-to-learn students and professionals, while volunteers will gain valuable work experience, career-enhancing opportunities and life-changing personal growth.

We are a not-for-profit NGO led organisation and our goal is to provide developmental support to our partner projects. We are act on the guidance and needs that our local project partners and communities identify, and we help connect skilled students and volunteers to the projects where they can have the most impact.

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Reviews

Volunteering in Ghana was a unique and eye-opening experience that offered me both personal and professional growth. From the moment I arrived, I felt welcomed by both the locals and the staff on my programmee. Working with such a small, dedicated team impressed me, and I was able to learn a lot about the justice system through hands-on experiences. I particularly enjoyed the field trips, which included visits to four prisons, discussions with lawyers, and insightful briefings with police officers. These experiences allowed me to deeply engage with the criminal justice system in Ghana and compare it to the UK.

The placement not only broadened my understanding of global justice issues but also helped me develop practical employability skills. I participated in the production of documentaries highlighting prisoners’ stories, which was both eye-opening and educational. Outside of work, I explored the beautiful country, visiting national landmarks and meeting welcoming people, which made my time in Ghana unforgettable.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?

Upon the visits to the prisons we were able to see the production of the documentaries where the prisoners discuss how they ended up in prison and how the conditions were, it surprised me how simple some of the prisoners crimes seemed which landed them in prison for at least a year, in particular the gentlemen that threw stones onto the roof of his ex girlfriend landed him a shear in prison.

Pros

The field trips and briefings stood out to me, including the briefing with lawyer Doris as we were able to have a long conversation regarding the the justice system and her personal views on the ongoing issues, which was very insightful. Also the servers
The most educational aspect of the placement I think was the briefing with the police officer and lawyer as I was able to use my knowledge learnt already whilst I was on the placement to gather relevant and interesting questions so that I could more deepl
The placement has helped me enhance my employability skills as I have been able to work in an office environment and learn about how the work is undertaken, instead of just being a student and working within the university, I’m also planning to use what I

Cons